Finally, the new year has come.

After what can, at best, be called a trying or challenging year that was 2008, we get to turn the page on it and, mentally at least, get to work on a fresh slate.

It is the time of year when people set to making resolutions about how they will do things differently in the unspoiled annum. They also take to looking back at the year that was and the events that have gotten them to where they are. A few will even go so far as to make predictions about what will come in the year ahead.

We will go so far as to stick our neck out and make some of our own here.

Without the benefit of a crystal ball or Tarot cards, we do hereby predict that 2009 will be a year of rolling up of sleeves, setting of jaws and firmly pressing noses to the grindstone.

This is an easy prediction after watching economic indicators and stock market figures jump up and down like a yo-yo being used on a trampoline.

People, no doubt, are steeling themselves to work harder just to maintain that which they have, let alone trying to climb ahead.

But our prediction isn’t just about people and businesses finding ways of doing more with less in tough economic times.

Almaguin, we have a big year ahead of ourselves, and it is going to take a community to face them.

Probably first out of the gate in 2009 will be the future of our health care. The Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) board is not being shy that cuts, big cuts are coming. It just won’t tell us what they are. While there has been some heavy hinting that beds will probably be pulled from the Burk’s Falls and District Health Centre, we have more than that to be worried about. Major service cuts are going to be coming to the hospitals in Huntsville and Bracebridge, and if the code of silence being practiced so far is anything to go by, the cuts are not going to be surgical in nature. They will cause real pain for those in Almaguin who travel to Muskoka for healthcare.

And stopping these cuts isn’t just a matter of convincing MAHC to ignore the $4 million deficit they are staring down in the next fiscal year. The message will have to get through to Queen’s Park where the government’s attitude towards hospitals has been anything but sympathetic.

But it is not all bad news.

We have a party to look forward to on Victoria Day Weekend. Almaguin Highlands Secondary School is turning 50 years old, and more than a few of our classmates are expected to make the trip home for the celebration. Like any good party, there will be lots of preparation to do, but we’re certain the rewards will justify the hard work required.

And speaking of rewards for hard work, in a couple of weeks the feasibility study for a community centre of some sort being added onto our new high school will be presented to the public for the first time. This will likely be an exciting opportunity that will only be realized through hard work and commitment by the community of Almaguin. The consultants say they have come up with something that is more than a building or equipment, something that will create opportunity and improve quality of life for some time to come.

We encourage any and all to come out and hear what their endeavors have unearthed and determined. While we don’t know exactly what they might propose, we assume it will take partnership and sweat. So come out and, if nothing else, just listen. It could be the easiest part of 2009 we will get.

Speak out

Next Tuesday night in North Bay, a discussion is going to take place that will affect the education of almost each and every student in Almaguin. The Near North District School Board (NNDSB) is hosting a public input meeting on school consolidations in the City of North Bay.

At first glance it may appear that this meeting has very little to do with Almaguin, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The NNDSB faces declining enrolment from every part of its jurisdiction and this, unfortunately, means school closures/consolidations. If the board doesn’t close schools it will find itself paying for half-empty buildings to the detriment of the programs it can offer its students.

The longer this goes on the more acute the problem becomes.

During the last closure process, just this past year, the board decided not to close schools in the North Bay area – a place where closures will have the least affect on the community as a whole or individual students.

Almaguin needs to be represented at this meeting to let trustees know we are watching them and expect them to make decisions that are good for the whole of the board and not any one area.

If the board again fails to take action in the city, it will hurt the education of every child the board serves.

It is not too late to sign up for a presentation to remind trustees, especially those from the North Bay area, that they have more to consider than their own self-interests.