VUU Lady Panthers victorious! If spirit can be shown in lights, then the Virginia Union University Lady Panthers can see the well wishes of Richmonders are with them in their NCAA Division II Final Four game Wednesday night against California Baptist University. The Lady Panthers won 86-81, advancing to the final on Friday, March 24. VUU senior Ashley Smith scored 28 points. Dominion Energy lighted up its office building at 7th and Cary streets Downtown on Tuesday night with a bright and highly visible message of support for the Lady Panthers. This view of the lights is from 7th and Canal streets.

Smelling the flowers // Aliyah Martin, 7, stops to smell a fire lily inside the Conservatory at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden last Saturday during the Date with Dad event sponsored by the nonprofit Girls for a Change. Please see more photos, B2.

“Gumby” and “Mr. Potato Head” strike a pose in front of the Virginia Historical Society on North Boulevard Wednesday as they prepared to take part in a promotional video for the society’s “Toys of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s” exhibition. Visitors can see popular toys from those decades, learn about their inventors and hear the memories of people who played with the games through the exhibit that runs through Labor Day. Olivia Lukanuski is inside the Gumby suit, while Jennifer Nesossis is the lively Mr. Potato Head.

Going fishing at Shields Lake in Byrd Park

Special day with Dad // Last Saturday was a special day as scores of fathers and daughters from across Richmond dressed up and enjoyed the food, music, flowers, scavenger hunt and other activities at the 10th Annual Date with Dad. Called “A Wonder-Filled Dance at the Garden,” the event at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Henrico capped off a week of events sponsored by Girls for a Change to strengthen the bonds between fathers and their school-age daughters. Above, proud father Daryl Fraser, center, escorts his daughters, Kayla Jones, 18, left, and 7-year-old Nadia Fraser by the fountain at the gardens.

Father-daughter couples practice their salsa steps on the dance floor in the Massey Conference Center Auditorium at the garden’s Kelly Education Center.

Freddie Royal takes a moment to peruse the activity schedule as he sits with his daughters, from left, Kyra, Amirah and Jada.

Standing together // In the wake of a rash of vandalism at Jewish cemeteries and community centers across the nation, more than 200 people attend a unity rally Sunday at Emek Sholom Holocaust Memorial Cemetery in Henrico County as a show of solidarity. Speakers from several faith traditions participated in “Standing Together: Remember and Respond.” The event at the cemetery, located within Forest Lawn Cemetery, was designed to support those who have been targeted by recent events and to stand in unity against divisive and bigoted actions and rhetoric. Top, people line up to place stones on a monument to those who died in the Holocaust and whose remains were never found. Right, Ahmed Faried leaves stones on the site.

Standing together // families and individuals listen as speakers promote religious freedom, diversity and inclusive communities.

Sponsors included Bonay Kodesh, Congregation Beth Ahabah, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Richmond, Islamic Center of Virginia, Richmond Hill, Richmond Peace Education Center, Temple Beth-El, Weinstein Jewish Community Center, Jewish Community Federation of Richmond and Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities.