Reason for optimism

When the ball drops on New Year’s Eve what will you remember most about 2023?
We primed the pump before asking that question, scouring ANR pages from the year that ends Sunday at midnight to offer up a list of the most memorable moments from 2023. More than 70 local residents weighed in, ranking stories for a Top 10 poll reported on this week’s front page. That’s always a fun project, and an interesting read.
There was a lot happening in our little corner of the world and from my perspective it’s worth noting that much of it was positive. We also had more than our share of tragedy, which was reflected in the year’s top story involving the agonizing two-month search for a missing Aurora couple, as well as headlines reporting not one, but two homicide cases. Our community hurts for all the families involved as 2023 will most certainly be a year scarred by those memories.
Having scanned headlines and stories from throughout the year, however, there was an amazing amount of encouraging, self-generated, positive news about people and projects that bode well for this area’s future. That’s simply not the case in many places and certainly on a global scale there is angst and unfathomable heartache involving political chaos and two seemingly endless wars. We should not take our circumstances, resources and good fortune for granted here in the heartland.
By the same token it takes more than a little gumption in today’s world to move the needle in rural America. You’ll find a lot of that here. The common denominators, for example, in stories involving Mission Critical business growth, housing development in Aurora and a new housing/commercial subdivision in Hampton are energy and vision.  All three of those stories reflect untold hours of behind-the-scenes effort designed to create opportunities and grow our communities. My guess is that all three of those efforts will be featured somehow in 2024’s top headlines, which means Hamilton County is poised to have a running start to another good year.
Now if only Mother Nature would cooperate and answer prayers for rain our ag-based community would indeed have cause to celebrate a happier new year. We can’t control the weather, but we can and should pause to count our blessings as 2023 comes to an end.
Happy New Year!
-- Kurt Johnson