When the party’s over, the welcoming of a New Year is about moving ahead with a sense of intention - if not a goal.
I don’t do resolutions, but I do love the idea of starting anew with my best foot forward. Knowing what it means to put that best foot forward requires some contemplation of the past year’s successes, failures, joys and low-points. When the review is complete, a survey to highlight the things that stand-out as being important and recurring is the next step.
As editor, I figured a re-cap of the 2017 local news would serve a similar purpose. For me, the annual highlights include the January 1 storm (which brought dramatic re-tellings of the day’s events, the generosity of islanders helping out visitors stuck here to find accommodation, and reminiscence of even more an even more brutal storm, 25 or so years ago), a determined 16 year-old swimming around our island, and a determined community that successfully squashed plans for industrial logging on the island (at least for the time being). Sore points include the need to recognize and step-up to help the islanders who lack safe and secure housing, as well a sense of dread that accompanies a summer that is just a little to hot, dry and smoky.
It seems council takes stock several times per year in its strategic planning sessions - but why not take the time to add your perspective? No doubt, this little paper did not manage to cover every important happening this year, but I hope our coverage and the end-of-year review is helpful to you. Please let us know what we missed, and what you think the priorities for this ever-growing, ever-changing and sometimes stagnant island community should be in 2018.
The Editor
editor@bowenislandundercurrent.ca
