When you spend most of the year planning and organizing and improving an annual spectacle like the Virgil Stampede, the last thing anyone wants is for something to go wrong.

Once again this year, thousands packed the Virgil Sports Park and environs — especially on Sunday and Monday, and especially thanks to beautiful weather. (And no rain!)

After some unfortunate problems last year involving fights and a weapon, the Virgil Business Association, the organizer of the Stampede, decided to boost security for the 2024 fair.

And it worked. Like a charm.

No one enjoys the prospect of a possible bag search or having to wait a bit in line, but Richard Wall and the VBA made the right decision in opting to be proactive and invest in ensuring that no one had to worry about being unsafe.

Those new security measures helped to keep a BB gun out of the carnival.

No one involved in such a community enterprise as the Stampede wants to be in the news because weapons were found (or worse, used) at their event.

However, thanks to the organizers’ well-thought-out security protocols, there was no issue.

Now, why anyone feels it is necessary to bring along a replica Glock pistol to a community carnival is beyond comprehension. That’s just the world we live in today.

We’re all just glad that a potential negative situation was turned positive.

As Wall points out in a news story elsewhere in this edition, the Stampede would not be able to do what it does without the 300 to 400 community volunteers who do everything from helping at the front gates to slinging burgers and cleaning up. And year-round planning of the carnival.

We’re proud of the effort that kids and adults alike put in every May to make sure the Stampede is a success.

And we thank each and every one of those who pitched in this year.

We’re already looking forward to 2025 — and three more days of Stampede sunshine.