The Rocky Mountain Outlook wishes everyone a healthy, safe and successful new year.
As the waning torch flickers its last light on another year, the Outlook staff have taken a look back through years past to share the stories of the people and communities one final time.
Inside the pages of the annual year in review edition, readers can delve through 52 weeks worth of events in the Bow Valley, Stoney Nakoda First Nation, Kananaskis Country and beyond. From a community newspaper perspective, a slow news week is not in the Outlook’s vocabulary.
While RMO editor and self-proclaimed history buff Greg Colgan is away for the holidays, there won’t be a single Second World War reference in this editorial. Instead, the newsroom will shine light on just a few of the positives throughout the community in 2022.
Particularly, an encouraging spotlight must be given to the re-emergence of the arts, culture and entertainment scene in the Bow Valley. From being out-of-work to making a go out of the awkward online Zoom show stage, it’s exciting to finally see the communities’ many talented musicians, artists, thespians, and creative souls claw out of the dark pandemic vortex and return to local venues and doing what they do best on a regular basis.
Music and art competitions, jam nights, and artists touring from town-to-town all came roaring back with a vengeance this past year.
The arts are an important aspect of expression and personal growth in us, and unfortunately, more often than not receive the first blow when financial cuts are unavoidable.
The old saying, you’ll miss it when it’s gone, could have never been truer.
As our communities become spoiled again with creative flair, the Bow Valley’s active nature has also taken a big leap back to normalcy in 2022. From kids back out playing in the minor leagues to school sports, all the way up to our elite local athletes giving it everything at the Olympics and Paralympics Games in Beijing, sports’ shaky time during the uneasy pandemic has straightened out.
Then there’s Brian McKeever, the golden boy of Canmore and Superbowl ad star, who just this past Match, won his 16th gold medal at the Winter Paralympics tying for most gold medals ever won by a winter Paralympian in China along with guides Russell Kennedy and Graham Nishikawa.
The visually impaired cross-country skier gets a much deserved shout-out after all his success and then calling it a career on competitive skiing following the Beijing Games.
The 43-year-old had nothing short of a remarkable and inspiring career on skis and will undoubtedly influence the next generation on frozen trails as head coach of the national para Nordic ski team.
The entire valley is a place where people from around the world come to embrace athletic competition. Perhaps the next Brian McKeever is getting in their practice at the Canmore Nordic Centre right now.
Although we say au revoir to 2022, 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.
These stories are important in the Bow Valley that you read right here in the RMO. As we douse the flame of 2022 and ignite a new year, the entire Outlook staff continues to look forward to telling the stories of our community for more years to come.
