With only a few dwindling days left in 2017, we reflect on another eventful year. Over the past year, we’ve welcomed new contributors to our ranks, revealed a new logo and website, learned from our peers across the country, and engaged in important discussions on both sides of the river. As we look forward to a shiny new year, we’d like to share with you our wishes for 2018 – and we encourage you to share yours as well, by leaving a comment below. We wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Courtney Smith: My wish is that I continue to work on making my dreams come true for me and my family and also create more fashion designs.

Liv Hefner: There is no doubt that 2018 will usher in change, in some manner, to the community, country and world. My wish is that everyone understands that change starts with them. If they wish to see positive change, they need to be the catalyst of it. I wish for everyone to understand that no person is too small to change the world – even if the world starts with a zip code in the MOV.

Cassidy Ruppenthal: My wish for 2018 is that we get serious about raising awareness for mental health disorders. As common as they are we still have such a stigma towards them. Make the silence end so lives don’t have to.

Laura Pytlik: On a personal level, I hope that I can be a light in the darkness, and show others the same grace and mercy I receive from God on a daily basis. I wish for Marietta and the Mid-Ohio Valley to see growth and positive changes in 2018 and for more people to discover how great this area is to live and work. And I truly hope that this time next year, I will be wearing those clothes that are waiting in the closet for me to lose weight.

Brooke Greenwood: I wish for everyone to find what makes them happy and hold onto that. I wish for the MOV to continue to grow as a point of interest and curiosity. I hope for even more spectacular sunrises/sunsets than we had in 2017 because who ever gets uninspired by a beautiful sky?

Marjorie Clayman: I wish for healing for those who need it, forward progress for those who feel stuck, comfort for those who feel alone, and aid to those who need it

Sarah Arnold: I wish and hope that we can come together as a community and as a country to agree that love is greater than hate, that we are more alike than we are different, and that we are stronger together than we are divided. I’d also really like to kick diet coke.
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