Everywhere Kelly Hoover went people asked her the same question: “When is Goleta going to do something again for the Fourth of July?”

So, Hoover, a former television journalist who is the community relations manager for the City of Goleta, decided to give them an answer in the most spectacular, dramatic and techy-modern way possible.

Dos Pueblos High School will host Goleta’s first Independence Day drone show on Friday, in an event Hoover made happen.

“It’s going to be awesome,” Hoover said. “It will basically tell a story in the sky.”

The show will feature 150 drones in a 12-minute display that honors and celebrates America and Goleta. The event will cap a three-hour entertainment extravaganza that will begin at 6 p.m. The drone show is expected to start about 9 p.m.

Naomi Jane, Santa Barbara Teen Star and rapidly rising singing sensation with more than 1 million YouTube views of her hit song “Lightning,” will perform and sing the national anthem just before the drone show begins.

Goleta has partnered with DroneShow.com, a company from Utah that puts on shows across the country.

It plans to set up the drones behind the visitor bleachers at Dos Pueblos. The drones will fly over the bleachers and above the football field with the show designed for people sitting in the home field bleachers and on the field.

The drone show will be animated and choreographed to music.

“It will by dynamic to see,” said Hoover, who has previewed the show on a computer.

Hoover took the lead on the plans after the annual fireworks show came to a halt in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The show in the past had been put on by the two Rotary Clubs in Goleta. The Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce was set to take it over, but never did because it was the year COVID-19 hit.

Wherever Hoover reached out, she said, she was greeted with a warm response.

“It was always a ‘yes,'” Hoover said.

She raised more than $80,000 from dozens of businesses and community organizations. Goleta is putting another $10,000 into the event, but it’s really Hoover’s determination that has proved invaluable.

The funds will go to the show itself, security, audio, visual and the entertainment. Goleta plans to set up a stage on the field with line dancing led by Tin. DJ Darla Bea and saxophonist Gerry Smith Jr. also will perform at the event.

Food trucks will be placed outside the football field area, near the swimming pool and gym. Carnival games will be set up on the track area around the football field. People are encouraged to sit on the football field, even bring their food and drink, but no tall chairs or ice chests.

Food trucks will include Don Pepe’s, Santa Barbara Food Connection, Pancho’s Tacos, Kona Ice and Sassafrass.

Hoover said she initially had reached out to Girsh Park as a venue for the event, but she said it proved impossible with the field repairs underway. Dos Pueblos is also farther away from the flight path to the airport, which was an added bonus.

She reached out to Bill Woodard, principal at Dos Pueblos High School, and the Santa Barbara Unified School District to ask if they would be willing to host the event.

“DP is honored to host the city of Goleta’s first drone show in Scott O’Leary Stadium,” Woodard said. “Looking forward to a great family friendly event and hopefully the start of a new tradition in the Goodland.”

Hoover, who is working with an events planner for the show, said she is thrilled about all of the community enthusiasm.

“With a first-time event, we don’t really know the kind of turnout we are going to get, but we are expecting a large turnout,” she said. “We are prepared for that.”

Parking will open at 5 p.m., an hour before the show. Hoover has set up shuttles in collaboration with Santa Barbara Airbus to transport people before and after the show.

The free shuttle service will start in the Costco parking lot at Camino Real Marketplace and drop people off on Alameda Avenue in front of Dos Pueblos frequently from 5:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. The shuttles also will take people back to the Costco parking after the show.

When the drone show starts Friday, Hoover no doubt will be somewhere in the crowd smiling, joyful that she was able to bring such a show to Goleta that people have wanted.

Although she led the efforts, she’s grateful for the support she had from sponsors, city employees and City Council members.

“People can expect to walk away with pride in their country and in the city,” she said.