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To the recognition of the late John Smith on Juneteenth.

Thank you to the organizers of this year’s Juneteenth event, who recognized the late John Smith for his work to bring the Juneteenth celebration to Albert Lea.

Even before Juneteenth became a federal holiday, Smith was organizing celebrations for the day in Albert Lea and working to educate community members of the importance of the day.

Smith moved to Albert Lea from the Denver area with his wife, Elaine, in 2014, bringing with him decades of community leadership.

A retired teacher, school administrator, coach and community volunteer, he shared his family’s heritage with anyone who would listen.

His great-grandfather was sold into slavery in Tennessee and ultimately taken to Texas.

When he was freed in 1866, this great-grandfather purchased 1,000 acres of land, with money he had been allowed to save, and later built a cabin, got married and had seven children. One of those children, Smith’s grandfather, started a school in 1892 for African-Americans. He also purchased 450 acres of land and got started in volunteer work.

The tradition continued with Smith’s father, who was also an educator, who worked until 72 in the profession. And every one of his six children — including Smith — went to college. He went on to work for 35 years in the education field.

Smith was an educator even in his final years, teaching Albert Lea residents about the end of slavery in the United States and the importance of our country’s freedoms.

We hope his passion for this holiday will continue to live on through other community advocates.

To the Albert Lea school district looking into adapted sports.

We were pleased to hear the Albert Lea Area Schools athletic director on Monday discuss the possibility of adding the district’s first adaptive sport at the high school level.

The Minnesota State High School League currently offers four different adapted programs: soccer, floor hockey, softball and bowling. Athletic Director Dave Langerud said it would be easiest to start with either floor hockey or bowling.

Though we know this is not set in stone yet, we applaud Langerud for looking into these options for students of differing abilities.

These sports would be a great opportunity to boost self-confidence and social interaction for these students and teach many lifelong lessons.