This time last year, I wrote my first-ever editorial during a one-week tenure as acting editor. “Well,” I thought to myself as we went to press 14 minutes after deadline, “Never doing that again.”
It’s funny just how much can change in a year.
If you had told me then that over the span of the next 365 days, I would become deputy editor, take on a six-week stint as acting editor, and help to conduct the first external search in over a century for our new editor, I likely would have laughed in your face. But that’s the joy of the New Year — it’s full of possibilities you wouldn’t expect.
We’re in a weird purgatorial week between major holidays, a time when many of us are suffering from post-Christmas fatigue while being bombarded with “New Year, New You!” messages from every direction. I wouldn’t even know what day it is if it weren’t for the fact that the newspaper press is running in the background.
This is also the time of year during which people start setting their New Year’s resolutions. The things they hope to change once the calendar flips to 2022. A quick sample of my coworkers showed that many want to spend more time with family, while others wanted to lose weight, spend more time on hobbies, get organized, or simply survive.
My resolution is to take more time to remember and celebrate achievements, no matter how big or small. All too often I have found myself working toward the next big project, the next major deadline, and all too infrequently do I take any time to savor the accomplishment once it’s in the rearview.
Here at The Lincoln County News, we produced and printed 52 editions of the newspaper and five special sections, including the return of the Senior Sendoff and the introduction of the Letters to Santa supplements.
We received recognition from the Maine Press Association Better Newspaper Contest, with honors for reporting, photography, ad design, editorial cartoons, and young reader engagement.
Speaking of young reader engagement, we continued our highly successful GSB Students Investigate program – now in its fifth year – while helping Lincoln Academy reestablish its student newspaper, The Eagle’s Talon.
It is sometimes easy to shrug off these accomplishments. After all, we’re a weekly newspaper – engaging the community and producing high quality content is part of the job. However, when you consider how many people need to work together to make this publication possible, it’s a wonder we don’t throw a celebration each and every time an issue comes off the press.
In 2022, rather than focus on the coulds and shoulds, take time to celebrate the dids and dones.
Our resolution is to continue finding new and exciting ways to tell the stories of this wonderful community and remain focused on the local issues and people of Lincoln County. It is our honor and privilege to report on this community, and we welcome any suggestions for coverage at info@lcnme.com.
All of us at The Lincoln County News wish you a happy (and healthy!) new year.
