Well, here it is again, the last week of the year. With 2023 only days away, it’s only natural to look back on the year and examine it. Sometimes it’s good to take a look at the cold hard facts of what happened in the past year.

At the Northern Sentry we are all about the community and serving the area of Minot, specifically the Airmen and families of Minot AFB. We are more than news reporters. We strive to be a real part of the community, sharing stories of real lives, real dreams and real people. We know military life is more than official photos and our goal is to represent that. So in order to show our love with the community, we know true transparency is always appreciated. With that in mind, we want to give a full and honest review of what we, the Northern Sentry, have been up to in 2022 in order to provide our honest review to you of the 2022 year

Here it is, the good, bad and real.

Great Things the Northern Sentry has Done/Experienced in 2022:

Created the much longed for Community Calendar that showcases both Minot and Minot AFB Events open and available to the public.

Completed a re-do to the Northern Sentry website complete with online stories, e-editions and a user friendly platform to better spread the community’s news.

romoted community awareness by adding the email newsletter: The Post Brief

Started bridging the gap between Minot and Minot AFB by offering the quarterly Discover Minot Excursion to base residents.

Helped MAFB dependents experience writing with the Jr. Journalism Program launch and implementation.

Reengaged our Facebook Page to increase the reach, posting schedule and interaction by huge amounts. This helps us be a part of the Minot AFB Community with a social media presence.

Some of our Flubs have been….

1. A struggling Instagram account. We tried to get it going and may still, but we are a small team and keeping several social media accounts active has been difficult. In the future we may explore other social outlets that work better. We’ll see in 2023.

2. Realizing that some people on base don’t want copies of the newspaper. In some places they had been left out, blowing around and contributing to messes on base housing. The problem has since been remedied as we now offer an “Opt-Out” of house delivery on our website. Thanks for helping us discover this problem.

3. A few times we have messed up the crosswords or puzzles in the paper. We have been known to cut off a clue or put in the wrong solution. We do have an avid reader and puzzle solver who always graciously lets us know when we have made an error, which helps keep us on our toes.

4. In our rush to get the paper out to press every week, we occasionally make typos, style errors or incorrect military references in our articles. While some do get published that we catch too late, we are thankful for the great many that are caught by our base Public Affairs contacts who review the paper every week.

Northern Sentry owner Ted Bolton also has something to say about his thoughts on 2022. He said he loved getting to meet and welcome so many wonderful new Squadron, Group & Wing Commanders and their families to our awesome community this year, but he was also sad saying goodbye to the military friends who have moved elsewhere. He said,

“It is bitter sweet working with folks at MAFB, we get to know them, we develop great relationships and then they move on. Such is the nature of military life. Nonetheless, I am always amazed at how quickly we are able to meet, and develop new friendships with those who come here, even with the knowledge that we will eventually say goodbye to them as well. This has been a tough learning curve for me, but I’m getting the hang of it, and wouldn’t change it for the world. MAFB is a revolving door of the Nation’s Best & Brightest.”

Ted Bolton, Northern Sentry Owner

In order to continue building the Minot AFB community, we need to hear from you! We want to hear your stories about moving, we want to see your new baby photos and announcements. We want to publish these small and important things that make your life here in Minot, so please shoot us an email or Facebook Message or submit the form on our website about story ideas or just cool things happening around base, we want to know about YOU!
Thanks for an awesome 2022 and we can’t wait to see what 2023 will bring!