‘Twas a year of wide coverage and timely recording, a veritable feast of objective reporting,

that took us from Birmingham to Elk, from West Chester to Lincoln, from township to township and meeting to meeting; with pens at the ready and stories aplenty. 

Through the winter and spring, came newspapers and magazines, that profiled people, old traditions and new scenes, from the saving of land to the expansion of Longwood; if it’s coming from Paul Redman, it’s an idea that is good. 

We saw a new library rise in the Square; from the vision of care that saw a need demanding, to reach neighbor and neighbor no matter one’s standing, and from it came the generosity of thousands, who would open its doors to a beautiful landing.

In late August there rose such a clatter; we went to the prison to see what was the matter. And what to our wondrous eyes did appear, but a tiny escapee, unaccompanied by fear. He climbed and he jumped and he hid in plain sight; while for two weeks we hunkered, paralyzed by fright. On the 13th of September, helped by a dog, Blevins and his team had tracked him through the slog. Unrelenting and determined, they trudged through the pitch, only to find him alone in a ditch. 

Later that night, we saw a soaring fire rage in Oxford that took buildings down, displacing families and businesses who were a part of the town. Undaunted by tragedy and heeding the call, hundreds of neighbors and a dozen agencies responded in all. From coats to food to shelter to hope, the gifts just kept arriving; these families are all safe in new homes, not just surviving but rather thriving. 

Between your toasts of champagne and your holiday festivities, we pause from our deadlines for our annual proclivities. We take a moment to recognize school color hue, so let us celebrate the maroon at the Grove and blue at the ‘U,’ from the block letter ‘K’ on the tower to the hive at the Ox. Tis’ the season for celebrating them all, from students to teachers and their fine administrations, here’s to providing superb educations. 

Now is the time to offer some jolly, all in the spirit of eggnog and holly, to our mayors in towns now all aglow, from Black and Fetick, and from Harris to Rzucidlo. 

Departures are expected and yet can’t be neglected, so to Mason, Simpson, Kichline, Holdsworth, Stevens, Doerfler and Zavala, we thank them for their service and say ‘Sayonara.’

Fear not, dear readers, for we are not burying our lede, so here’s more names that you are about to read. O’er Joe Greenwalt and onward Chief Gordon, and here’s to you Jon Martin, may the planes above you always be arrivin’ and departin’. Now away to Julia Earnhardt, Cheryl Kuhn and Chris Himes, here’s to a new year that sparkles and chimes. 

On Luke Zubrod and Daniel Embree and Oxford Mainstreet, on Young Moms and KACS and the people we meet; raise a glass to Joan Holliday and the new county row seat.

May the season’s joy open its sash on Vannote and Proto and the Kennett Flash; and we send tidings to Ratliff and Mueller and our man Rich Leff, not to mention a gent named Geoff. Start the buses, Krapf and run another race, Sarah and Karen; may the capacity of your hearts never become barren. 

Greetings, readers, and here is our dream, one not as impossible as one would seem: Inspired by the voice of Leon Spencer and the rich Kennett Symphony, may the sounds of our decency be heard in infinity, on every street and in every village, no matter the price and no matter the millage. As we wish you and yours, let us be the best we can be, in the spirit of togetherness, and for all to see.

Season’s Greetings from the Chester County Press.