What a year it has been in Winchester.

There has certainly been no shortage of news — shocking, inspiring, good and  bad — over the past year.

We’re just days away from bidding the year 2016 adieu. The next few days offer an opportunity to reflect on the year that was.

For some, starting a new year will be welcomed with eagerness and open arms, others will find the transition bittersweet.

Life comes with ups and downs and surely we’ve all had our fair share of each this year. Our hope is there were more ups than downs.

Regardless of your experience over the last 12 months, the start of the new year provides a reset of sorts. Whether this year was full of good or bad (or a healthy balance), we should all muster as much optimism we can about the coming year.

The year 2016 certainly had its challenges, and no one really knows what 2017 will bring. So in this calm period before the new year, take a moment to reflect on the successes and failures, the happy times and bad times, the opportunities missed and the new paths forged. It is with reflection the past that we can best prepare for the future.

Despite the losses and hurdles we faced this year and the uncertainty we face going into 2017, it is a new year and a new opportunity for us to come together and make our community the best it can be. There is still far much more right in Winchester-Clark County than there is wrong, and our success as a community still centers around our ability to come together to fight for what is right, and deal with what is not.

Though we suffered loss this year, our community also saw growth and we anticipate even more in the coming months.

On behalf of the staff at the Sun, we wish you peace and prosperity in 2017. We wish you nothing but the best with happiness for you and yours in the year ahead.