If the last editorial of 2022 was dedicated to looking back at the year that was, it only seemed fitting the first be used to look ahead to 2023.
Of course it’s always much easier to look back than it is ahead so when it comes to predicting the major news stories of the next 12 months we’re essentially making educated guesses. In the absence of a crystal ball, let’s do our best.
Just as COVID-19 still loomed large heading into last year, this time around it’s the dark cloud of inflation and a dreaded recession that threaten to put a damper on the good times. Let’s hope this proves to be but a mild bump in the road and things turn around quickly and there won’t be too much ink dedicated to collective financial woes.
Coming off a year that saw both a municipal and provincial election, we enter 2023 with no campaigns on the horizon. That should be noted with at least a tiny asterisk however as one can never really be sure what might transpire at the federal level. Minority governments are notoriously short-lived. If this government makes it to September, that’ll mark two years, which would buck the trend of a typical minority government.
While we can hypothesize about a possible federal election, one thing actually slated to take place in 2023 is the U20 Canadian Fast Pitch Championships, Aug. 15-20 at the Napanee Fairgrounds. This will mark the second consecutive year Napanee hosts the event, though this time they’ll have a lot more time to prepare. Last time the event sort of fell into their laps when the original hosts had to back out, leaving just a few months for Softball Napanee to put together a national tournament. To their credit they answered the call, putting on a smoothly run tournament that saw the hometown Express clinch silver. Naturally they’ll be looking to do one better this summer.
There will certainly be plenty of other sports stories to share in 2023 as well. The Napanee Raiders are looking good as they head into the home stretch of the regular season, perhaps a third Schmalz Cup could be in their future. What better way to mark the 30th anniversary of their first provincial title in 1993 than with another in 2023?
Meanwhile somewhere in Lennox and Addington there’s surely a young athlete training hard to be the next hometown hero. Last winter we saw Yarker’s Jay Dearborn compete at the Beijing Olympics as a member of the bobsleigh team. Might we see another local athlete compete on the international stage in 2023? Given this community’s ability to produce stars way above its population per capita weight class, we wouldn’t bet against it.
There’s sure to be a few surprises over the next 12 months, hopefully more good than bad. Stories celebrating the many accomplishments of residents. Council decisions. Community events. Noteworthy visitors. The weird and the wacky. Breaking news.
Just as we have been since Jan. 1, 1870, the Beaver will be there to cover it.
-Adam Prudhomme