Ah, the start of the new year.
It’s that encouraging time when there is a blank canvas in front of us and we proceed to body slam seasonal depression and get excited about all the amazing plans, dreams and hopes for the next 12 months before any minor setback promptly sends us back to a warm and comfy couch.
Dark at 5 p.m.? Guitar lessons. Crippling cold? Vacation booked. Stuck at that Canmore intersection while motorists and pedestrians clumsily try to figure it out? Free entertainment!
It’s truly that fantastic moment of the year when anything seems possible.
As the clock strikes midnight and the big mystery of what’s next gets underway, it’s also that time when the Rocky Mountain Outlook staff show how timely our coverage is and take a look back to remember, acknowledge and highlight 2024’s biggest news stories and newsmakers one last time.
Flipping through the pages of the annual year in review edition, readers can take a stroll down memory lane of the past 52 weeks in the Bow Valley, Kananaskis Country, Îyârhe Nakoda and beyond, like when the MD of Bighorn updated its awkward off-ramp at Harvie Heights. Personally, I don’t think “the bird-cage” was given enough time to find its wings and fly.
One can attest that there is never a dull moment in 'round here and despite being, in general, smaller on the population size of things, the Bow Valley sure packs a wallop that is felt far beyond its borders and the Rocky Mountains.
One glaring example would have to be the vote to remove the Banff Avenue pedestrian zone, which shut down a section of the town’s main roadway so that visitors and locals could walk freely in the popular commercial and restaurant area.
A wildly successful expression of democracy, the eligible voter turnout for people who wanted to have their say on the divisive issue made Banff history. With 2,523 ballots cast – surpassing every municipal election – it was the largest voter turnout the mountain resort town has ever witnessed.
Ultimately, those leaning against the Banff Ave. pedestrian zone got their wish with 1,328 votes to turn the street back to what it was pre-COVID-19 pandemic.
Now only if there was a way to snap our fingers and reset some other roads in the Bow Valley...
In Canmore, some of the noise makers included two World Cup events with the top nordic skiers in town, off-site levies (or as RMO editor Greg Colgan would have you believe), and something about a vacancy tax keeps coming up in the Vox Populi section.
Some lighthearted jests aside, the Outlook wishes everyone a healthy, safe and successful new year.
As we say adiós to 2024, the year has brought to us highs and lows, good and bad, and things that have made us excited, engaged our mind, body and soul, and even tugged at our hearts (our hearts are still with Jasper). That being said, the entire Outlook staff continues to look forward to telling the stories of our community for many more years to come.
