Christmas is almost here and another year is about to become history.
So much has happened and yet 2016 seems to have flown by.
Our lives are busier than ever so there seems to be less and less time left for friends and relatives.
We communicate a lot on social media of course, and while this is generally a good thing nothing can replace face to face time.
If I could change one thing that would be it: to force everyone to invest just one hour every week into other human beings.
I used the word “invest’’ intentionally because you know what can result from any investment: a dividend.
In this case the dividend would be priceless.
It would be easy to blame terrorist attacks for undermining Christmas in the past few years.
Attacks like the one in Berlin this week do have an impact on our psyche; as do revelations that 38 local residents are on a terror watch list.
But in the long term our biggest challenge will be to rebuild our neighbourhoods and communities.
Even though community pride is strong in our neck of the woods here in Campbelltown, Macarthur and south west Sydney, there is a lot of room for improvement.
We must start making contact with our neighbours across the road and next door once again.
Together we are stronger, better.
On that note, on behalf of the team at the South West Voice I’d like to thank everyone who has helped this little online news website enjoy remarkable growth in 2016.
We have just entered our third year but already our readership or viewership numbers are just amazing.
And the bottom line for a news service is how many readers rely on it for accurate information.
So it’s a massive thank you to every one of you; we are humbled by your faith in such a small media outlet and we promise to continue to provide an excellent coverage of news into the future.
As a direct result of the large volume of readers, the Voice has been able to attract substantial support from local business people in 2016.
That’s another bottom line: it costs money to run a news website like ours which covers news both in Macarthur and across the South West of Sydney.
So, thank you Cliff Barry from The Hermitage, Patrick Duffy from Duffy Law Group and Daniel Gretch from Stand Out Home Improvements.
Our gratitude also goes to the Gazal siblings, Nora, Nicholas and Nabil Junior from Fashion Spree on Orange Grove Road, David Hazlett and Chris Muir from Village Centre Ingleburn, Walker Corp and Straight Talk Pty Ltd.
I also want to thank local MPs Greg Warren and Anoulack Chanthivong for their advertising support during the year but also for the fact that not once did they or their offices ask for any special treatment.
We were also supported by Councillor Paul Lake during the council elections on September 10 and Russell Matheson during the Federal election on July 2.
It’s a cliché, but please try to support our advertisers because without them we would not be here.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
