The year is nearly over — and wow, a lot of things happened in 2022: The Russian invasion of Ukraine, record-high inflation, the Supreme Court overruling of Roe v. Wade, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the Jan. 6 hearings and another tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, to name a few.

Looking back at the national and international news stories that dominated headlines this year, one might think this year was largely pretty bleak — and while there was tragedy, so many good things happened, too.

Some of the Enterprise’s most-read local stories of the year are proof of that.

Our top-read story of the year came out of Tupper Lake: For the first time in years, a train rolled into the Next Stop Tupper Lake Depot — to much fanfare — on Sept. 13. This is just one piece of a broader collection of exciting things happening in Tupper Lake, including the redevelopment of the former Oval Wood Dish Factory and the expansion of the Tupper Arts Center.

In Lake Placid, the Olympic Museum reopened this year after a $1.4 million renovation, and the years-long, multi-million-dollar Main Street overhaul is nearly complete. The Adirondack Regional Airport in Lake Clear was awarded $8.5 million in state funding this year for upgrades to the terminal building, and Cape Air started flights from SLK to New York City. In Keene, residents celebrated the opening of the town’s first-ever mountain biking trail this year.

All throughout the year, people throughout the region –including Lake Placid resident Dmitry Feld, who grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine — volunteered and fundraised to aid Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion of their country.

In February, the Saranac Lake community came together to make a young boy’s wish come true. In the middle of a weekday, in 20-degree weather, hundreds of Saranac Lakers came out to support a 14-year-old from Oswego County, Logan Baugh, who wanted to use his wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation to stay in an Adirondack cabin and have a pizza party at the Ice Palace. Although Winter Carnival was over, the Winter Carnival Committee and the broader community banded together to recreate the Ice Palace and the annual Gala Parade.

A number of North Country residents competed in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in February, and in June, Tupper Laker Allen Hurteau bowled at the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games. Also in June, Saranac Lake hosted the first-ever Tri-Lakes Pride event.

In August, Wilmington resident Marcel Bruce welcomed a new family member into the world — his daughter-in-law’s baby, which he himself delivered. In September, a retiring Saranac Lake teacher, Mary Sue Dalton, passed on her classroom to her daughter Rachel.

And there are countless happy moments that didn’t make it to print. So many people in our community fell in love this year, got married, or had children. Some graduated high school or college. Some opened new businesses.

Our hope is for even more happiness, more love and more good news in 2023.