As a large crowd of people watched Saturday’s “Never Forget” remembrance event for the 50th anniversary of the Tracy tornado that killed nine people, Scott Thoma stood on the corner of Rowland and Park Street in Tracy and released nine balloons one by one. And a church bell rang nine times for those who perished in that tornado.

Event organizer Scott Thoma mentioned on Facebook Monday he was touched by the many tears that were shed during the event (including his).

There were also many more events held on Saturday, including a presentation by KSTP-TV meteorologist Jonathan Yuhas. People also gathered for a quilt raffle, silent auction and a bake sale. All intended to raise funds for memorial scholarships.

In that same Facebook post, Thoma thanked everybody for the “kind words” and thank you cards for organizing the event. He said he was shocked to see so many people attending the balloon release.

Well, he shouldn’t be shocked. Because it was his tireless efforts that led to this “successful event.”

While many others may have assisted in making sure this event was successful, Thoma provided countless hours in the months leading up to Saturday, hyping up the event. His promotional campaign really started years ago when he wrote “Out of the Blue,” which is a superb account of that fateful day of June 13, 1968. The number of people who braved rainy weather to attend the event is proof of how much his efforts paid off. Yes, Thoma deserves all those thank you cards for a job well done.