Looking back on the past year, we think the best way to describe 2014 is as a year of upheaval.
At the outset, 2014 seemed like it would be a year of celebrations, and to an extent, it was.
Neither Canada or Alberta were marking any milestones, but locally the Village of Clyde and the Hamlet of Jarvie both celebrated their 100th anniversary with major events in the summer, as did the Westlock and District Agricultural Society Fair.
St. Mary School also celebrated half a century in the fall with a homecoming. Internationally, the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics were held in February, and many local schools made watching the Olympics part of their own school activities.
But when we look back on 2014, the things that stick out are the events that shook up the status quo.
North of Westlock, we saw the closing of Jarvie School and W.R. Frose School in Fawcett and the opening of the Pembina North Community School. Whether or not you agree with this decision, the impact on those communities has been tremendous.
Not only did we see Alison Redford resign as premier and Jim Prentice elected as her replacement, but the Wildrose Party was effectively gutted after nine of its MLAs crossed the floor over to the Conservatives, irrevocably altering Alberta's political landscape.
Alberta's economic futures turned suddenly for the worse when oil prices suddenly bottomed out. Agriculture's fortunes seemed to improve, and the massive backlog in grain still needing to be shipped prompted the Canadian government to get tough with railways by imposing shipping requirements.
Nationally, we were all rocked by the shooting at the War Memorial in Ottawa. Internationally, there was the rise of ISIS, riots over police shootings in the U.S. and the conflict in the Ukraine.
In a lot of ways, it feels like 2015 will be about dealing with the fallout of 2014. That's not to say it was entirely bad, but we go into January with less optimism than we had at this time last year.
Let's hope that our worries remain just that: worries.
