Typically, when one year ends and another begins, we look back—cataloging disappointments, tallying progress and resolving to do better next time. There’s nothing wrong with that ritual. But this year, I want to try a different tack.
Rather than rehash the negatives of 2025, I want to focus on something that feels increasingly scarce in our daily lives: hope paired with responsibility. Not blind optimism or quaint nostalgia, but a belief that our systems—when pressed, challenged and reimagined—can still work.
With that, I offer a 2026 Hope List. Not a wish list. A work list.
Hope No. 1: America at 250, told honestly
This year, the United States turns 250. The semiquincentennial should not be reduced to fireworks, slogans or selective history. It can—and should—be something far more meaningful, whether the celebration takes place in Washington, Woodstock or Windham.
My hope is that America’s 250th birthday becomes a moment of honest civic pride: pride that recognizes the extraordinary endurance of our democratic experiment, paired with a clear understanding that it began imperfectly and remains unfinished.
In the Overlook region, town and county governments and local school boards are where democracy is practiced in real time. These are places where public officials encounter one another, work through differences and answer to the citizens who put them in office. It is not perfect. But when outcomes don’t go the way we hope, that is not failure, it is part of the process.
The strength of the American experiment, like that of our local communities, has never come from getting everything right the first time. It comes from a willingness to course-correct.
Locally, I hope we recommit to civic literacy, civil discourse and public service volunteerism. Democracy is not a subscription service you can cancel and renew at will. It renews itself every time we show up informed, listen carefully and work to expand the circle of who counts, who votes and who belongs.
As the Rev. Gwyneth Murphy recently reminded parishioners during a Christmas sermon at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Woodstock:
“Be a force for good and community in our world. Divisions, hostility, prejudice and judgment are powerful forces dividing us. ‘Be kinder than necessary’ should guide you in your relationships—with those you love, those you struggle to love, neighbors and strangers alike.”
Hope No. 2: Cost of living is a local crisis with national roots
Housing, food, and health care are not abstract policy debates. Hope in 2026 must confront what people feel most acutely: the rising cost of simply living in a place they love.
Across the Catskills, these pressures weigh heavily on thousands of our friends and neighbors. We see it in the lack of affordable housing, overwhelmed food pantries, children and seniors going without medical care, and volunteer fire departments struggling to recruit members.
What gives me hope is that cost-of-living pressures are finally being framed as a moral issue, not just an economic one. Voters are responding to leaders who speak plainly about affordability and propose practical solutions.
While New York City and the Catskills may feel like different worlds, the underlying question is the same: Who can afford to stay, and who gets pushed out?
Here in the Catskills, we must be laser-focused in demanding that town boards, county legislatures and all elected officials fully commit to an affordability agenda that addresses this deepening emergency. That may require rethinking how local budgets are built and reallocating resources. We cannot keep doing things the same way and expect different results.
Perhaps part of this hope includes citizen-led task forces in each community—groups willing to take a fresh look at government budgets and priorities.
Hope No. 3: Local journalism matters
This is where The Overlook fits into the picture for 2026.
Hope withers in darkness. Hope requires information, accountability and context—especially at the local level, where decisions can feel abstract until they suddenly aren’t.
Community journalism is not about inflaming outrage. It is about equipping residents with the facts they need to participate meaningfully in civic life.
I often return to the motto of the Delta Democrat-Times of Greenville, Mississippi, during the height of Jim Crow: “Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is overcome without publicity.”
Democracy does not heal itself quietly. Silence protects the status quo.
As we look ahead to 2026, my hope is that The Overlook continues to strengthen our region—through deeper engagement, greater transparency and more neighbors reading, questioning and contributing to civic life in the Catskills.
Here’s to hope in 2026! And to the work required to make it real.
Scott Widmeyer is co-founder of The Overlook. He can be reached at scott@theoverlooknews.com.