Thumbs up to the 100th annual Powell High School Alumni Reunion this weekend. This remarkable event is the result of a year of planning and organizing and much work by many people, and it wouldn’t be possible if there hadn’t been 99 annual reunions before it.

The annual reunion is unique. While alumni of most other schools gather formally for reunions in 5-, 10- and 25- year increments, people who graduated from Powell High School in any year are welcome to gather to reminisce, have fun and celebrate their common history and memories.

However, unless new volunteers step forward, this could be the last multi-class reunion for PHS alumni. People who have organized the event for many years are ready for a new generation to take over the planning and organizing. We encourage those who have been the beneficiaries of previous efforts to get involved and help with future reunions so these multi-generational events can continue well into the future.

Thumbs down to last week’s senseless, apparently racially motivated massacre of nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal, a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina. We have no words sufficient to express our sorrow, anger and dismay about this despicable, senseless attack on innocent people in a place of worship.

These victims were targeted simply because of their skin color. The pastor of the church, Rev. Clementa Pinckney, was one of the nine people who died. In a service in October 2013, Pinckney said the church “stands for the universal vision of people being treated fairly. ... It’s really what America is all about ... it really is about freedom, equality and the pursuit of happiness.”

How ultimately unfair and unjust it was that one hateful man silenced that voice of fairness and freedom, along with those of eight other innocent people. But we hope that message lives on in the hearts of people all over the country who redouble their efforts to finally bring an end to racial hate and violence in the United States of America.

Thumbs up to amazingly high record bids to purchase mules during Jake Clark’s Mule Days’ annual auction. The top bid of $61,000, went for a mare mule named Peaches, while the second-highest was $34,000 for PairADice’s Jazzy. Both were significantly higher than the previous high-record mule, which sold for $29,500; in fact, Peaches sold for more than twice as much. That’s almost mind boggling.

Those and other high bids testify of the quality of the mules sold, and of the success of Jake Clark’s tradition of bringing in only the best. They also show that well-bred mules, despite their reputation for stubbornness, can be equine rockstars that are sought after in their own right.

Thumbs up to the planned return of a historic barrack building to the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center.

Once back at the site of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center, the historic building will serve as an authentic piece of history and will provide a real-life view of the conditions under which about 11,000 Japanese Americans lived while incarcerated there during World War II.

The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation is working to raise the money needed for moving the barrack from the Shell area back to Heart Mountain and for construction to stabilize it. We support the foundation’s plan to take advantage of this rare opportunity to restore a nearly unaltered barrack to the center and encourage those willing and able to provide monetary or in-kind donations to help that move happen.