This Saturday night, the clock will change from 11:59 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. When it does, some will be out celebrating and will cheer and kiss and raise a glass. Others will be spending a quiet evening at home with their family (and may still cheer, and kiss, and raise a glass). Others will be sleeping soundly in their beds and miss the moment entirely.
Of course, the clock changes from 11:59 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. every night, but some nights we pay more attention - especially when that shift of the minute hand also symbolizes our little planet completing yet another trip around the sun.
The change of the old year into the new year is, technically, just another day, typically not drastically different from the one before it. But we humans like to attach meaning and significance to things like time and anniversaries and changes. The orbit of the earth is a regular cycle that gives us a chance to pause and reflect on what happened during the last trip around the sun and what we hope for during the next trip.
Reflecting on the past year takes on new meaning when done from the standpoint of the newspaper. One of the primary purposes of a newspaper is to be a record of the life of a community. This is accomplished by keeping track of what is going on in that community, the highs and lows, the triumphs and losses throughout the year. Examining those important moments gives an overview of where the community as a whole is at. This is one of the reasons we like to make our last paper of the year a "year in review" edition.
While "the news" is often stereotyped as being all negative, one of the great things about a small community paper is the ability to see so much positive. While there are important and tragic news stories that must be shared, being in a community like Green River means even the worst news has an undercurrent of hope, because it's always followed by seeing how people come together to help one another through the tragedies.
It's helpful and interesting to think back on some of the biggest news stories and see the overarching progress. However, it can also be hard to try to choose and summarize the most important events. There's only so much a weekly newspaper can include, and unfortunately many things have to be left out. But those things that happen behind the scenes all influence the major events.
Two of the sections in this "year in review" edition are an "In Memoriam" section and a "Births" section, listing the names of those who left us and those who came to join us over the past year. Our owner Tom Mullen was recently commenting on the old newspaper philosophy that everyone should have their name in the paper at least twice in their life - when they're born and when they die.
We share their names again now because we realize it's true many of them never were in the paper or never will be aside from their names. But each and every name represents so many lives and connections and important stories. Even when they're not known, they're the ones that keep the community going.
A community, and its news, can't exist without people. Many of those people just lead "ordinary lives," going about their business from day to day and year to year. Those lives may seem uneventful, their stories not newsworthy in the traditional sense. But without them, the tragic news would take over and the undercurrent of hope would be gone.
In the film "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," Gandalf reflects on the importance of those who live ordinary lives in the grand scheme of the world:
"I have found it is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk, that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."
Our community was full of news, good and bad, in the past year. But as we reflect on the highs and lows, we realize that so much of the news goes on behind the scenes as people live their lives from day to day. And we recognize that the good news wouldn't exist without all the people who make it possible by living each day with kindness and love.
And so when the clock changes from 11:59 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Saturday night, we'll find comfort in the fact that it is just another day after all, and people will continue to go about their lives, because that's exactly what keeps us all moving forward throughout the years.
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