Selma’s celebration of July 4th could have turned into just about anything. Powerful thunderstorms rolled through town just an hour before a community concert and fireworks display was scheduled to begin.

Selmians have a tough-minded, never relenting attitude about them. Such was never more evident that on Thursday when hundreds upon hundreds of citizens gathered in Memorial Stadium for the concert and fireworks show.

Maybe there are a few reasons why people didn’t let thunder and lightning keep them home. Maybe our community — less than a year after the Sept. 11th attacks — wanted to show a strong love of country. Maybe the people of Selma wanted their children to understand the importance of the freedom we’ve earned in the United States. Maybe there just wasn’t anything better to do.

While we believe all Americans have a deeper love of country than they did a year ago, we wholeheartedly believe that our July 4th festivities were an enormous success because of the people who helped plan the event.

Citing names is worthless. Invariably, someone gets left off the list and that creates more turmoil than good. Regardless, the people who were involved in the production at Memorial Stadium know who they are. On behalf of the community, we want to say a hearty “Thank You.”

Events, on their own, don’t stand for too much years down the road. The July 4th festivities of 2002 probably won’t be remembered when citizens gather at the same Memorial Stadium 10 years from now.

Rather, events like the one put on this past week serve a much larger purpose. They offer our citizens an opportunity to fellowship and join in something that offers no controversy. We don’t have enough events like that in Selma.

While our community often gets strangled in affairs that really mean little, those who helped promote and plan the July 4th event offered us something good; something that actually helped Selma grow together — rather than apart.

Again, we thank you for making a positive impact on this community.