From the celebration of one of our area’s national treasures to the inauguration of a festival residents hope will become a treasured event for years to come, the Miss-Lou had much to be proud of last week.

Let’s take a moment to recap some of the highlights.

-The Natchez National Historical Park, including the antebellum house Melrose and the William Johnson House, celebrated National Park Week with the rest of the National Park Service. This year marks the centennial of the National Park System — what Pulitzer Prize-winning author Wallace Stegner called “America’s best idea ever.” No doubt exists that the Natchez National Historical Park is one of Natchez’s greatest treasures. Let’s celebrate not just one week, but all year long the invaluable resource the men and women of the National Park Service are to our area.

-Terranishala “Tee” Hannon knows how to let her curiosity about her daily life guide her to science success. The Morgantown Arts Academy eighth-grader took a simple question, “Which potato chips are the greasiest?” and used the scientific process to create a science fair project that has won awards in several regional competitions. Armed with her inquisitiveness and creativity, Hannon is sure to go far in school and life.

-Seventy-six years after the Rhythm Night Club fire that took the lives of 209 people, local residents came together to focus not just on the horrors of the event but also on the moment in time when the community came together — black and white, rich and poor — to help a city overwhelmed by tragedy. May the heroic efforts of 1940 remind us of what is truly important today in our lives.

-The Four Rivers Balloon Race in Jonesville celebrated the inauguration of what organizers hope will be an annual festival filled with delicious food, toe-tapping music, fun games and blue skies filled with giant colorful orbs drifting across the Louisiana landscape. Congratulations to this year’s organizers and here’s hoping for low winds, clear skies and festival fun for years to come.

As a new week begins, let’s always be on the lookout for the best of the Miss-Lou.