Happy New Year, Suffolk!

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s celebration – as I write this I am getting ready to be out of the office for a couple of days to be in the wedding of our former education reporter, Kelli Davis, who is getting married on New Year’s Eve.

So, by the time you read this, 2009 will be here and 2008 a distant memory.

But in the last vein of nostalgia, I figured I would share some of my favorite stories here at the News-Herald from 2008.

First of all, there really is nothing like being a reporter during an election season.

It’s the greatest gig to have.

From walking down Main Street with Mark Warner to being front and center for a breakfast meeting with Jim Gilmore, it’s like watching your high school government textbook come alive right in front of you.

Then, of course, there was the mayoral election.

By no means will the half a dozen roundtables be on my short list, but being there election night and watching the votes come in was one of the coolest displays of democracy I’ve seen.

But there is life outside of politics — thankfully.

There was the story of the Jefferson family — headed up by mom Barbara Jefferson – who got a new home, thanks to the help and support of the then Shelter for Hope and New Beginnings.

There was Barney Nawyn, Harbour View’s Mr. Clean, who would patrol the North Suffolk sidewalks and pick up litter to ensure the tidiness of the area.

And there was the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church quilting ministry, which makes quilts and prays over them before giving them to people throughout the church and throughout the community.

In an industry where death and destruction can take the headlines and the front page, these are the stories that really make my job worthwhile (and hopefully your reading worthwhile as well).

It’s hard in just one column to hit all of the highlights from an entire year, but I will say that looking back on the year just gets me excited about what’s to come in the city this year.

What will be the next great news story? Who will be making history here in town? And what mission or outreach will be the one to inspire us next?

Right now, nobody knows. But here’s to finding it out.