Former Navy pilot, Jim Osborne, was the chairman of the Rose Festival Navy Committee and envisioned a full-scale airshow as part of the Portland Rose Festival. After the Rose Festival Association gave him the green light, he rounded up the top aerobatic acts in the country and enlisted the help of the U.S. Navy Recruiting to request the Blue Angels to headline for the first show in 1988. The show was originally only a two-day public event (Saturday and Sunday only) with Friday being the exclusive "Arrival Day" for special needs children and their chaperones. Sales topped over $100,000 in its first year, according to James Cox (chairman at that time), making it an instant hit in the Portland area.