Does anyone else hear the sound of wedding bells ringing?

Two of our newsroom staff — Saranac Lake/Tupper Lake reporter Aaron Cerbone and page designer Victoria Martinez — are getting married today. After returning from their honeymoon, we’ll welcome the two back with a new blended last name: Aaron and Victoria Marbone.

This is a day that so many of us here at the Enterprise have been looking forward to. Though we are, admittedly, very biased in this, we believe that Cerbone and Martinez exemplify why we believe the Tri-Lakes has such a bright future.

These are two people who are young, civic-minded, and overall good people. They’re in love with each other and love this area. Despite the myriad of hurdles to moving to this region, they’ve chosen the Tri-Lakes as their home.

And they’re not alone. Despite an affordable housing crunch that threatens to keep young families from staying here long-term, young people like Cerbone and Martinez are moving to this area all the time and finding a community here.

Young people are essential to the long-term health of a community. The Tri-Lakes — and the Adirondacks in general — need more of them. The fewer hurdles there are for young people to overcome as they try to put down roots here, the easier it will be for businesses to find staff, for school districts to up enrollment, and for volunteer organizations to continue their work.

There’s a lot of big problems that need to be solved before those hurdles are cleared away, the lack of affordable housing being one of the largest. Over the next few weeks, the Enterprise will be publishing a series of stories on just that, and we encourage anyone with a story about housing — or a lack of housing — to email us at news@adirondackdailyenterprise.com. But sometimes, it’s nice to be reminded that despite the problems, there’s so many good things happening here, big and small.

Everyone here at the Adirondack Daily Enterprise would like to congratulate Cerbone and Martinez on their marriage. We wish you both happiness, and we can’t wait to welcome you back.