When Jeff asked us to generate a list of top stories from the past year, I found it a much more difficult task than I expected. Kind of like whittling a giant sequoia down into toothpick.

Our esteemed editor had requested a short list of 10 to 15 articles. My initial attempt at narrowing it down was closer to 40. Here are just a few of the stories which didn’t make our ES year in review, but I felt warranted at very least an honorable mention.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t start my roundup with the horrific shooting at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, which claimed the lives of 13 people – including Hong Xiu Mao Marsland of Greene.

I remember staring in disbelief at the television as news broke of the tragedy, wondering how on earth something like this could happen so close to home. I’ll never forget sitting down with Hong Xiu’s husband David just days after her death. Listening to anecdotes of their life together from their first conversation through the morning of that fateful day, I couldn’t help but mourn her passing and his loss.

It was with thoughts of that day in my head that I rushed to Bainbridge just a few weeks ago, not sure what I would find when I arrived. Rumors of hostage situations were flying, and all I knew for sure was that the state police were on the scene in force. While that story was tragic in its own right, I breathed a sigh of relief when the situation was resolved without further incident.

There are plenty of stories which stick in my mind from the last year. Like the controversy over the Norwich High School Leadership Project, which gave The Evening Sun a chance to experiment with social media and blogs (and allowed me to meet some of Norwich’s phenomenal teachers and students.)

There was the continued drama surrounding the Oxford School Board, the resolution to what I like to call Fong and the Case of the 76 Pomeranians, the settling of the Norwich Educators Organization contract, the Norwich Middle School’s climb off the School in Need of Improvement list, the late summer flooding which caused over $1 million in damage to roads across the southern portion of our county, the passing of Guilford Supervisor Al Doyle – I wrote about it all.

During the course of the year, my eyes were opened to a side of Chenango County to which I had been previously unaware. I mean, of course, the ramifications of poverty and its ripple effect through our schools and communities. It is something I will continue to write about, including as a special issues piece in our upcoming Progress Chenango publication.