Before we get caught up drinking the New Year’s Champagne, let’s pause to remember 2014.
Was it a great year? Many would say it wasn’t. There didn’t seem to be much progress on some of the biggest and most vexing issues of our times. There was no peace in Afghanistan. A new terrorist threat called the Islamic State emerged, and Ebola killed way, way too many people, primarily in Africa. Computer hackers took our credit card numbers and Sony Pictures’ computer network. Police shootings and protests reminded us that race still divides the United States.
But was it a good year? Despite a 2013 Gallup poll that found half of Americans say our best years are behind us, some good things were accomplished.
The U.S. economy was strong, posting its best six months since 2003. Employers added 3 million jobs, the most yearly growth since 1999, and stocks soared. The Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed the 18,000 mark for the first time. (It fell below 6,600 during the Great Recession.)
Clark County saw its share of good news. Local employers added 7,000 jobs between November 2013 and November 2014, a growth rate of 4.9 percent. Detractors will point out these jobs typically pay less than jobs that disappeared in the Great Recession. But they are jobs in a community where people needed work.
Fed up with an antiquated system of county government that gave too much power to three elected officials, voters approved a county charter that should bring a better system with appropriate checks and balances.
There were more salmon in the Columbia River, work progressed on the downtown waterfront redevelopment project, and a bitter labor dispute was resolved at the Port of Vancouver’s grain terminal.
So whether we cheer for the end of a year that could have been better or a year that wasn’t half bad, tonight’s the night to celebrate an ending and a new beginning.
Locally, people will gather at the Hilton Vancouver Washington for a gala ball and fundraiser for the Fort Vancouver National Trust. Square dancers will be at the Happy Hoppers New Year’s Eve Dance, and seniors who may prefer to be in bed by midnight will have their opportunity to celebrate from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at the Luepke Center.
Many of us will watch TV to see the big ball drop in Times Square in New York City. The celebration began in 1904 and was sponsored by the owner of The New York Times, Alfred Ochs, to commemorate his new Times Tower headquarters in what had previously been named Longacre Square. The celebration was capped with fireworks, not a ball drop. The ball came two years later, after the city decided revelers and fireworks shouldn’t mix.
There are some odd New Year’s Eve traditions around the country. In West Fairview, Pa., residents will drop a 7-foot-tall wooden nail in honor of the defunct Harrisburg Nail Works, once a major local employer. In Brasstown, N.C., the annual Clay’s Corner Possum Drop will take place at the stroke of midnight. After animal rights activists sued, organizers of the 21-year tradition promised not to use a live possum this year. Instead, the clear plastic box normally containing the critter will be lowered from a light pole with “maybe some roadkill or a pot of stewed possum,” said organizer Clay Logan.
Whatever your New Year’s Eve tradition, we here at The Columbian wish you a happy, healthy and possum-free 2015.
