Wow, that was fast. The news broke on Thursday that Seattle’s last remaining Fourth of July fireworks show at Lake Union was canceled after the production company was unable to land a sponsor. My Wallingford reported on the surprised reaction in the neighborhood that has hosted the event for decades. Hours later, KIRO FM’s Dave Ross and Seattle chef Tom Douglas kicked off a fundraising drive, and we here at Next Door Media kicked in a few bucks with dozens of other companies. Two of those companies, Microsoft and Starbucks, along with Paul Allen, brought in the big bucks and met the $500,000 goal within two days.

The production company now says the show is back on, and Seattle Mayor Mike McGuinn has proclaimed April 2nd to be “The Day the People Saved the Fireworks.”