Tonight, we will close the book on 2017 in Thomas and Grady counties — and elsewhere — and begin 2018.

The year that is about to become history did not lack for drama or intrigue. As you can tell by our top stories of the year, there was a lot to celebrate, a lot to enjoy and a lot to wonder about what happened.

We saw — if you had the right glasses — the moon cross in front of the sun for a brief span. We saw crowds jam into Thomasville High School’s stadium and into their opponents’ venues to watch the Bulldogs put together an astonishing and remarkable football season.

We had changes in leadership for the city school system and the preparation for a change in leadership at the Thomas County school system. The City of Thomasville and Grady County will have new day-to-day leaders at the top of their respective organizations in the new year. There are two new city council members in Thomasville, and Cairo made history with the election of its first African-American mayor.

We saw storms rip through the area in the middle of winter and we had another tropical storm come through and once again, we saw how people in the community can come together to help friends, neighbors and complete strangers in their time of need.

While we’re still five months away from the primaries, the area has been a favorite stopping place for those seeking to become Georgia’s next governor. Of the six Republican entrants in the race, four have been here on their tour of the state. Some have been more than once. The Democrats seeking to replace Gov. Nathan Deal, whose limit of two terms occurs in 2018, have been here, too. Hopefully, the interest in our area those candidates have means an interest in what happens to the people here, too. We hear a lot of talk about how important rural Georgia is — the state’s population is estimated at 10.3 million and the metropolitan Atlanta population is estimated at almost 5.8 million — but we wait for the actions of the next governor to back up the words.

We will have other primaries and elections this coming year, at the county, state and federal levels. 

We can’t make predictions on what will transpire in 2018 for our community. But one thing we do hope is that everyone gets there safely. We wish everyone a Happy New Year and a safe one as well. We urge all to enjoy the evening and the festivities but to do so responsibly. If you think you need a designated driver, make those arrangements and be sure to thank them. We hope all of our readers and even those who don’t read the paper do not become another tragic statistic Monday morning.

To you all, we wish you a happy and enjoyable New Year’s. And now it’s time for some hoppin’ john and some greens.