RIPON – Don’t expect changes to the City of Ripon’s Fourth of July fireworks show.

“We did what we wanted to do (last year) and once again made it a hometown community celebration,” Mayor Red Nutt said Monday at the Ripon Unified school board meeting.

A big part of bringing back the pyrotechnic extravaganza to Ripon High’s Stouffer Field – the community fireworks show was previously held at Mistlin Sports Park – was the joint effort between the City of Ripon and the school district.

“The cooperation between the two agencies showed what can be accomplished to benefit the community,” Trustee Ernie Tyhurst said.

RUSD gave the city the green light to do it again, with the school board voting unanimously to also waive the use of facilities fees while allowing city staff to handle the clean-up duties.

“We heard (from RHS buildings and ground supervisor Ed Tagliabue) that city staff did a great job last year of making it look better than before,” Councilman Dean Uecker said.

He helped lead the efforts to bring back the Independence Day event back towards downtown.

For the first time in years, Uecker said he and many of his neighbors along California Street were thrilled to view the community-wide event from the comforts of their front yard.

Ripon Police Chief Ed Ormonde estimated 1,500 people gathered around RHS to watch the fireworks, with several hundred more at the Ripon Christian campus and even more at Mistlin.

“They were parked in the cars thinking the fireworks were still there,” Uecker said of the latter.

Still, he indicated that the overall reviews were positive.

“It was fantastic,” said Uecker, who approached the school board on behalf of the community. “We received a lot of compliments.”

Efforts for the upcoming Fourth of July celebration are already under way.

“We jumped the gun and sent out the (donation) flyers with the water bills. We’ve received some money plus some left over from last year,” said Uecker, who estimated collecting over $6,000 of the $25,000 in donations necessary for the community event.

Board President Mike Fisher was pleased to look ahead.

“Same program, same show,” he said.