A crowd of about 75 gathered around a large bonfire at the parking lot next to Hammer Field in Albert Lea Thursday night to celebrate and reflect on the passage of the school district referendum.

&uot;We decided we wanted to get everyone together in a relaxed atmosphere,&uot; said Dave Nolander, one of the many organizers of the event, reflecting on the amount of work and energy that referendum lobbiers put in before the election. &uot;It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing, but we felt that all these people deserve something like this.&uot;

The crowd consisted of teachers, administrators, members of TEAM (Together Education Achieves More) and community members.

With music coming from a parked truck blasting out &uot;Be True To Your School&uot; by the Beach Boys, attendees chatted happily around the blaze about the outcome of the election, the support of the city and the future.

&uot;It’s not fair to say that any one person was responsible for this,&uot; said Mike Moore, a member of TEAM. &uot;This was an effort of many people.&uot;

Many spectators spoke of how happy they were with the support received from Albert Lea residents, which they said was especially apparent in the voter turnout.

&uot;I’m really happy to see the community support education,&uot; said Mark Stotts, the district director of finance and operations. &uot;The way they’ve supported us from the building of the high school to the referendum has just been fabulous. It makes this a great place to raise a family.&uot;

Stotts said that he is a bit worried about the funding that will be given from the state when they draw up the budget this winter.

&uot;We still have our work cut out for us depending on what the state does,&uot; Stotts said.

Superintendent Dave Prescott said he was very happy with the outcome of Tuesday night’s election.

&uot;Everyone you talk to is feeling good,&uot; Prescott said about the crowd. &uot;I’m very happy we can move on and bring back some very positive things to this district.&uot;

The bonfire lasted from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. It was manned by Albert Lea fire fighters.