Looking Back on 2021

As we move toward the start of another year many of us look back fondly at the various events that took place. Looking back, we also reflect on the happenings that have impacted our community, our nation, or the world. Much like 2020, this year was well outside of the norm of “regularity”.

However, for Rural Resurrection, it was once again the best year yet. The blog’s traffic has grown steadily over the year and the posts have been recognized by other media outlets at an increasing rate.

We started the year with the second annual National Implementation Month. A month dedicated entirely to implementing your community plans. This year we discussed Recourses and the need to Celebrate implementation actions to garner support for additional implementation activities.

Rural Resurrection also started a new series of posts entitled Star Communities. Star Communities are those communities that have shined above the rest. They may have overcome immense tragedy, or they have simply excelled beyond expectations for a town of their size. These are example communities that are role models for those who strive to be better. The community of Newton, Iowa was the first to receive this designation. America’s Little Sweden, Lindström, Minnesota, was anointed as a Star Community this year as well.

Rural Resurrection also continued a series of posts entitled Ghost Towns. It is important to learn from these ghost towns to help us avoid our communities becoming one as well. This year we looked at the interesting story of the former company town of Taconite Harbor, Minnesota, and a town with personal ties in Athelstan, Iowa.

Some of the posts on Rural Resurrection this year were on an issue from 2019 that was still impacting many Midwest communities in 2021. The floods of 2019 devastated many communities and a number of them are still digging out. We highlighted disaster recovery and mitigation resources. But we also checked in on the town of Winslow, Nebraska (Part 1) (Part 2), which is looking to move their entire community to avoid future flooding. We also checked in on the town of North Bend, Nebraska (Part 1) (Part 2) and their well-organized community-wide effort that should be a template for others.

Overall, 2021 was a tough year for many of us. But we can look forward to 2022 with a sense of optimism and a desire to make our communities better! Good luck to everyone in the new year!