By Blake Deshazo | The Selma Times-Journal

The commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday has come and gone, and by most accounts it was as big of a success as the city of Selma has ever seen.

The weekend’s events, which included the bridge crossing and a speech from President Barack Obama at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, brought an estimated 80,000 plus people to Selma.

The Selma police and fire departments had a few minor incidents over the weekend, but no major issues were reported.

But they’re not the only ones pleased with how the weekend went. City officials are also happy with how Selma handled the historic commemoration.

“I thought as a whole it was a great Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday weekend,” said Selma Mayor George Evans at a Tuesday night Selma City Council meeting. “It was a great weekend and something we’ll never see again, at least not in my lifetime.”

But the city didn’t do it alone. There were several people and organizations that had a part in making the 50th anniversary one that will never be forgotten.

“I certainly want to give thanks to everyone who played a part in making it happen,” Evans said. “It was just a collaborative, collective effort from everybody working to put all these things in place.”

Events like HUD Secretary Julian Castro’s visit, the city’s Inaugural 50th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony and Dinner and the CeCe Winans concert were well attended and executed, according to Evans.

One of the highlights of the weekend was President Barack Obama’s speech, where he thanked the foot soldiers who marched to make this day possible and addressed voting rights issues that still linger in today’s world.

An estimated 4,000 plus were inside the area designated for the president’s speech, and another estimated 20,000 were outside the area.

“Overall it was beautiful, and to have those people participating like President Obama, Congressman John Lewis, and Gov. Robert Bentley, and of course it was just a really historical moment for all of us in Selma to have the president and former president here in our city on that most joyous occasion,” Evans said.

The bridge crossing didn’t go quite as planned due to the amount of people in Selma, Evans said, but everyone enjoyed the weekend.

Evans commended the effort of the city’s public works department on the quick cleanup after the events were over.

“I thank them for getting out there and working themselves to death to get all of that trash and paper cleaned up by noon,” Evans said.

While the weekend is over, the city is still waiting to see what benefits will be reaped from the events.

According to Evans, the city will know in April how much revenue was brought in during the 50th anniversary.

“I just hope that when we get our receipts it will reflect how much money was spent here, and how we will recover from the money we spent as well,” Evans said.