There’s likely few people outside those with experience putting out a community newspaper who truly understand Christmas print deadlines and how mixed up they can be.
With that said, some readers may wonder why we’ve chosen today to publish ruminations on 2016 from our five West Shore mayors, when we’ve yet to produce our popular annual year in review issue.
Well, with the fact our trusted carriers will deliver this Friday’s paper on Thursday, our Jan. 1 edition is technically our last Gazette you’ll see in 2015. There you’ll find a recap of our top stories from January through December, along with some of the best photos of the past year, some not previously published.
As for our illustrious mayors, we appreciated hearing from them on issues they believe will most affect residents in the coming year and beyond.
Some of those issues, such as determining how to proceed with sewage treatment and the McKenzie interchange and its construction challenges, will involve difficult decisions and require valuable input from you, their constituents. For others, like the new YM-YWCA in Langford and the Eagle Creek Village project in View Royal the decisions have already been made and it’s just a matter of seeing them through to completion in 2016.
Like an unstoppable juggernaut forging ahead, the look and feel of the West Shore is changing by the day, week, month and year. Some will embrace it and find ways to celebrate that change; others may rebel against the way growth is happening in their neighbourhoods and municipalities. The beauty of community is everyone has a chance to say their piece if they so desire.
We can’t help but feel excited about the opportunities West Shore residents will have next year to pursue new options in recreation, localized careers and, for some, new ways of travelling in, out and through the West Shore.
We encourage our readers to get involved in some way to help personalize these new aspects of your community. It’s the kind of thing that make living more interesting.