While there was plenty of good in 2016 to celebrate, the bad outweighed it.
The horrific murders in the line of duty of Senior Deputy Patrick Dailey and Deputy First Class Mark Logsdon Feb. 10 touched many people who are in some way connected to at least one of the law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line every day protecting us.
The depressing loss of sanity daily and lives weekly to heroin and addiction personally touched even more people than did the loss of the deputies. Both matters are equally senseless.
We did, however, manage to get through some of the sadness many of us felt as we hopped from event to event that fills each year with a chance to have some fun and escape, even temporarily, our woes.
Be it the year-end Christmas parades, caroling and tree lightings in Bel Air, Aberdeen, Havre de Grace, Perryville and Port Deposit, or the mid-year celebration of our nation's independence, or everyone's favorite – an Easter egg hunt in spring – there were plenty of moments that helped us get away from the doom and gloom.
For those who like to spend when they're depressed, there was a bit of a shopping spree in Havre de Grace this year. Voters in May approved spending more than $4 million, divided somewhat equally, between upgrading the water plant and renovating the Opera House. Then by a nearly 3-1 margin in a special election just this week, voters gave their blessings to spending another $1.1 million to finish the purchase of waterfront property for parkland on Water Street.
As 2017 arrives, the one thing not to be forgotten is the celebration of 100 years of Aberdeen Proving Ground, arguably the single biggest thing over the past century not only in The Record area, but also in the greater region surrounding us. With the Proving Ground turning 100 this year, the 125 birthday of Aberdeen as an incorporated municipality also will be observed.
So, this New Year's weekend, with the annual dropping of the duck and the fireworks heralding the arrival of another year, will be a welcome sight. Let's try to move beyond, though never forget, what caused the sadness of the past year.
As the sand in the hourglass runs out on this year, let's all of us look toward a brighter, happier, healthier and safer new year. Happy New Year, one and all, and welcome 2017.