(Photo by Tyler Murphy)

Dear Evening Sun readers,

In an uncertain year unlike any other in recent memory and during a time of pandemic and economic peril, how do we talk about Progress?

There have been national crisis before but few have ever had such direct ebb and flow over our livelihoods and communities. Looking the other way on the TV screen is hardly the reliable option of escape it once was, with updates on elections, lockdowns and the mounting death toll.

Times may be hard, but many are brave. We have all lost something, yet most discovered a lot about what they have.

So how can we not talk about Progress when it matters the most?

In more than 60 pages during the first week of February and online at evesun.com, Chenango County’s daily newspaper will focus on trying to do that.

How can we not highlight those who continue to adapt and succeed in Chenango County? The 2021 Progress will have a focus on health-care professionals, small businesses and the demand for goodwill organizations.

We will share what they have learned, we will hear what they have been through, what they are prepared for next and how living in a small town has been a challenge and a help. The local newspaper and our other publications have not been immune to these challenges.

You can never really walk a mile in someone’s shoes but you can read a few paragraphs about what your friends and neighbors are experiencing in unprecedented times.

February 1 to 5, 2021, The Evening Sun will publish a special series called Progress. The publication is a section of articles printed alongside the regular newspaper. Those articles will include interviews with local governments, charities and business leaders as we attempt to bring an overall view to the what the last year has been like.

Our reporters interview dozens of the employers, officials and volunteers that hold our community together, from Greene to Columbus, from Afton to Otselic, Norwich, Unadilla Valley and many more. Progress Chenango is a collection of stories told by big and small business owners, realtors, religious leaders, charity organizers, government officials and health-care workers.

We also select a handful of community members to write columns of their own called ‘In Their Own Words’ and write about their ‘Success Story.’

Each section of the five-day series will double the number of daily pages in the newspaper and will be delivered to your door or sold with The Evening Sun at no extra charge. The sections can be pulled out separately and make good keepsakes.

The Evening Sun will print two sections of 2021 Progress each day and all 10 sections will be proudly featured on our website: evesun.com, all year. You can view a high quality copy of our 2020 Progress edition there now.

As an advertiser or a reader you are also a supporter of your small town community newspaper and we greatly appreciate your support during these challenging times. We hope you will help us advertise our own community in a positive but honest light. We all want to encourage and help our community because in the end, it helps ourselves and our families.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Tyler Murphy

Evening Sun Managing Editor

Tmurphy@evesun.com