It was an incredible year in Selma in 2015. By now, you know of all the historic anniversaries celebrated this past year and have probably read countless stories about the celebrities who came through town over the last 12 months.

However, it’s still worth recapping.

Fifty years after marchers were bloodied and beaten while trying to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge, President Barack Obama spoke to the nation from the foot of the historic structure. He stood with Congressman John Lewis, one of the foot soldiers in 1965, and former President George W. Bush and his wife Barbara.

The next day might’ve been even more memorable. An estimated 100,000 marchers walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in honor of those who changed history decades before.

That was a weekend nobody in Selma will ever forget, but it was only part of what turned out to be a truly historic year for our city.

In January, John Legend and Common held a special concert on the bridge, where they performed “Glory”, which became the theme song for the movie “Selma.”

To the delight of moviegoers, the Walton Theatre reopened. The long awaited Selma Riverfront Amphitheater finally opened its doors too, just in time for Labor Day.

Paul Grist State Park, which was closed during the fall, reopened in December after hard work by the Dallas County Commission.

Many businesses in our city received prestigious honors, thanks to the community rallying around them.  Hundreds participated in voting parties to help Lannie’s Barbecue win the Legends category of the first ever Alabama Barbecue Battle. Weeks later, many again organized voting parties to help G Momma’s Cookies in its pursuit of winning a Super Bowl 50 commercial.

Although G Momma’s came up short, it wasn’t because of a lack of effort by the Selma community.

Nothing summed up the Selma’s togetherness better than the unity quilt, which was sewn together by the local faith community, and held when 2,000 marchers walked over the bridge in early March. The walk was an effort to show just how far Selma had grown in 50 years.

We’ll always look back at 2015 as a milestone year in Selma, but the key is to build off of it into the future. This past year gave us plenty of hope, but it also reminded us how much work still needs to be done.

Selma enters 2016 with many of the same problems it had 12 months ago — too high of a crime rate, a higher than state average unemployment rate and problems that many other aging cities around the country find themselves facing.

Fixing those problems won’t be easy and it won’t happen overnight, but we’re optimistic that 2016 will be another tremendous year. Let us be the first to wish you a Happy New Year.