Holiday season newspapers can be a challenge for editorial staff everywhere, to put it mildly.
Press deadlines are often shifted since everyone takes time off; and the usual flow of news-making events also shuts down.
In order to ensure you had something good to read in these pages, we asked a handful of community groups and leaders to provide what we called “looking back/looking forward” pieces, inviting reflections on accomplishments of 2024 and a glimpse of plans for 2025.
We think the result is inspiring; akin to opening a door on a bustling workshop-like atmosphere of focused activity and achievement. While we obviously report on what’s happening each week, when the writing reins are given to the doers, as they were this week, the collective images and details are more vivid somehow.
One facet that stands out is the fact that local organizations rely on many cohorts in order to meet their goals.
We often characterize Salt Spring groups and governance as operating in silos, but the picture that emerges from this week’s submitted pieces is that it’s not really true. Collaboration with other groups (and receiving critical funding support in some cases) is a persistent theme.
One such collaboration is making its debut next week, when Restorative Justice Salt Spring Island personnel lead the first Restorative Dialogue Circle at ASK Salt Spring on Jan. 10, and continuing on the second Friday of each month. Use of these circles to hold difficult conversations in a safe environment has enormous transformative power, increasing mutual understanding and helping to heal rifts among members and groups in our community.
The Driftwood, of course, relies entirely on collaboration and partnerships in order to do what we do. We would love to be able to thank each person individually for their contributions to these pages in the past year, whether it came from a casual conversation, an interview or a written submission. Instead, we hope you know who you are and appreciate that we are sincerely grateful for your shared words and deeds.
Happy New Year from all of us at Driftwood Publishing Ltd. We look forward to interacting with and serving our readers and community every day in 2025.