Reflecting on 2011

From the devastating flooding to the struggling economy, 2011 has been a tough year for many people in our area and country.  But it's also been a year of resilience.

Reaction on the milestones of the past year --- will get you different responses depending on who you ask.  "Right now there are so many people hurting"," says Grace Archambault, "They don't have jobs, they're running out of money."

"The biggest issue in the area is fracking," says Harry Myers, "no getting around that."

And of course, the story that shook up our area not once, but twice.  "I'd have to say the flooding that went on," says Michael D'Ambro, "I mean that was crazy some areas got blasted with water."

But it wasn't necessarily the flooding itself that stood out, but the community outreach after the flooding happened.  "People have reached out to neighbors, and reached out to strangers," says Annie Myers, "One of the towns thought they weren't going to have their Halloween party for the kids, and an anonymous donor gave $500 to the town so they could have it."

Despite the many issues that Central New York communities dealt with, everyone Eyewitness News spoke with looks to 2012 with hope.  Harry Myers says we should "not be so quick to go to war, let's try to work with people."

Archambault says, "I'd like to see peace first of all, bring the troops home and then after that, find work for everybody that wants to work."