As a reporter, one question I am regularly asked is: “Why don’t you report on anything positive?”

My response is usually to insist that we do, but the stories that garner the most attention — and tend to stick most in people’s memories — are usually those involving conflict, such as stories about budgets, crime and controversial construction projects.

I started writing the “20 Good Things” column in 2020, a year that was one of the hardest many of us have lived through. I did so to acknowledge the ways the Upper Valley showed resiliency, how neighbors looked out for each other and — if I’m being completely honest — to remind myself that in the midst of reporting on so many difficult topics, there were still moments of joy.

This is the fifth year I’ve written this column. I’ve continued it because it’s nice to have an opportunity to flip through a year’s worth editions of the Valley News and to think of all the people and organizations that are working to make this community a better place to live. In no particular order, here are 20 good things that happened in the Upper Valley in 2024:

■All organizations that hosted eclipse-related events this spring. “There’s not a lot of events that touch everybody this way,” said Nancy Fontaine, adult services and technology librarian at the Enfield Public Library, told me. Also a shout out to all the scientists working in our community who shared their knowledge during programs.

■Members of Old South Church who worked with historic preservation experts throughout the state to get the Windsor landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places at the National Level of Significance.

■Speaking of historic preservation, kudos also goes to all historical society members that undertake the grant writing process to get much-needed funds to put toward repairs on buildings in their communities.

■Garden club members throughout the Upper Valley who volunteer to beautify public spaces. “It’s important to recognize just that beauty and lovely places are really important,” Ruth Smith, master gardener program manager for the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, told me in June.

■The Claremont Opera House, AVA Gallery and Art Center and all other community organizations that host art shows featuring work by Upper Valley students.

■Visions for Creative Housing Solutions, which opened Spruce House in Hanover, its third location for people with developmental disabilities. “It is on the backs of parents because we can’t just wait for an agency … to magically say ‘Oh we’re going to build you a forever home for your children,’ (and) that they’ll get love and support and get to live with their friends and have independence,” Visions founder Sylvia Dow told me this summer. “It just doesn’t happen. So it really is up to families to make it happen.”

■Staff and volunteers at Bugbee Senior Center who organized the first-ever Bugbee Senior Games, a week-long event in August where older adults competed in a variety of competitions including knitting, lawn games and pickleball. “I think everyone can do something,” White River Junction resident Mark Greenan, who won the home run derby, told me.

■Oak Hill Outdoor Center in Hanover, which started making snow last winter and in doing so provided more recreational opportunities to cross country/Nordic skiers of all ages.

■Vershire resident Lucas Daniels, who spearheaded the creation of the Vershire Artisan & Farmers Market.

■ Congratulations to all the area teams that brought home state championships in 2024: Mascom football and bass fishing; Hanover girls hockey; Woodstock football and boys nordic skiing; Hartford boys and girls hockey, field hockey, boys track and boys lacrosse; Oxbow softball; Thetford boys track and boys basketball; White River Valley girls track; and Windsor field hockey and girls soccer.

■The town of Windsor and Windsor Railyard Recreation, which are working together to transform a brownfield site into a public space including pickleball courts and walking paths.

■Anyone who voiced their opinion at public meetings, voted in local elections and participated in rallies to contribute to civic life in the Upper Valley.

■Melissa Richmond, executive director of West Claremont Center for Music and the Arts, who worked with the Claremont Development Authority for years to open the Claremont Creative Center in the former Claremont National Bank building in downtown Claremont. “We had a building that had been vacant for 30 years in the heart of the downtown and now it will bring arts organizations into the downtown and we know that has an important secondary impact on other businesses,” former Claremont Planning and Development Director Nancy Merrill told Valley News correspondent Patrick O’Grady in May. Also, congrats to Merrill who resigned this year after decades of service to the city.

■The Lebanon Public Library, which became a summer meal site this year where people could pick up free food for their school-aged children. “There are enough barriers between children and nutrition that anything we can do to welcome access and nutrition, the library is happy to do,” Celeste Pfeiffer, an outreach librarian, told me in July.

■The New Hampshire State Court, which ruled in this newspaper’s favor and told the town of Hanover to release police reports of two Dartmouth College students who were arrested during a protest in Oct. 2023. The decision upheld the state’s Right-to-Know law.

■Junction Arts & Media, which hosted a Halloween Costume Runway Show in White River Junction to give kids a chance to show off and discuss their costumes. All towns, organizations and individuals that contribute to Halloween events that are open to all children also deserve recognition for keeping the holiday fun.

■The 22 Vermont State University at Randolph veterinary technician students who helped check in on hundreds of animals at the Tunbridge World’s Fair this September. “It’s definitely one of the more fun days,” student Des Pouliot, told staff writer Emma Roth-Wells. “You get to get off campus and do actual work.”

■The owners of REDCAN, Cappadocia Cafe, The Karibbean, Little Havana, Casa Brava Tapas Bistro, Grandma’s Griddle, Happy Dumpling, Turmeric Kitchen and all the other restaurants the opened in the Upper Valley that contribute to the growing variety of eat-out options available to residents.

■The community of West Newbury, Vt., which has supported its turkey supper and bake sale for more than 60 years. “After the election it’s even clearer to me, it’s less about making money for the hall and more about bringing people together from all walks of life, both as diners and volunteers,” volunteer Susan Goodell told staff writer Emma Roth-Wells. “It’s the importance of knowing your neighbor, and man, if we don’t have community, we’re really in trouble.”

■As always, anyone who volunteered for a nonprofit organization, to serve on a town board or other leadership position in the community. It’s the people that make the Upper Valley a truly special place to live.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.