The start of a new year is always an appropriate time to sit and reflect on what has happened in our communities during the past year. Recalling the “top” news of the past 365 days is always an interesting mental exercise, and the numerous towns and villages within our coverage have certainly had their share of interesting stories in 2016.

Every year at Eagle News, all of our editors take time to review all 52 weekly issues to choose the most important items for the year-in-review issue. Here at the Eagle Bulletin, we looked at both what we felt were the most important and/or interesting stories of the year for us, as well as at what our social media readers made the most popular stories by the number of views and shares. There was a great diversity of events in 2016, as in most every year, with headlines in community news, business, agriculture, crime, politics and education. There were new beginnings, personal triumphs, academic and athletic challenges and victories, and, unfortunately, crimes, losses and death. We have reviewed some of these stories in this week’s issue.

As we head into a new year, one of the things that continually impresses us is the commitment, caring and dedication of the people of our communities. From community events to fundraisers, from raising food for local food pantries to collecting essentials for the less fortunate, Central New York is a place where people truly understand the meaning of the word “community.” And even though there have been disagreements on a host of issues — the Manlius fire department, the F-M school district facilities upgrades, the I-81 replacement project, the East Syracuse/DeWitt fire contract  and the Fayetteville Free Library budget priorities, to name a few — disagreement is not only good but essential as we work to make our communities the best they can be.

We look forward to bringing you the news in 2017 — the good and the bad, the uplifting and the disappointing — and we wish you all a happy New Year.