The pace with which years pass seems to quicken as we age.

The beginning of 2015 seems to have just begun but here we are at the close of a year, and what a year it’s been.

For our community, 2015 may be most remembered for the number of large changes we saw in our community and the potential those changes offer for the future.

A long-time business, the Isle of Capri Casino, closed its doors, taking with it a couple of hundred jobs. The Isle’s departure sets up Natchez Under-the-Hill to reinvent itself a bit in the coming months.

The final piece of our community’s conversion from a two-hospital city to a single-hospital city came to fruition in 2015. The closure of the former Natchez Community Hospital was sad for many of its employees and former patients, but the renovations to the Merit Health Natchez facility and the improvements to local health care it will provide will ultimately be of greater benefit to all.

Despite the hopes and dreams of many local business people who make their living off the oil industry, the price of crude oil remained at multi-year lows in 2015, causing tough times for oil producers and service companies, but remained a financial benefit to consumers who benefitted from low gas prices. Oil prices likely will rebound at some point and when they do, area business people will be poised to take full advantage of the nearby Tuscaloosa Marine Shale development.

As 2015 draws to a close, all eyes are on the City of Natchez as it prepares for the tricentennial celebration that will consume our attention in 2016.