Oh 2012, what have you brought us? For a little town such as Northborough, a lot more than one would expect.
Digging through the archives, here are the top ten stories you, Northborough Patch readers, clicked on the most.
1. VP candidate Paul Ryan mentions Northborough during the debate:
When Paul Ryan called up Sheryl and Mark Nixon, the Northborough couple knew the vice presidential candidate was planning to mention their story during his campaign run soon. They didn't know it would be this soon, and their family was thrown into the spotlight.
2. Our "Pics and Clips" column:Pics and Clips is a place to load all your photos, from sporting events to dance competitions to your cute kids eating ice cream. It's a wonderful snapshot of the town, and we urge you to keep submitting. Thanks for the shots!
3. The Northborough Baseball Association debate:A re-shuffling of the board of directors for the Northborough Baseball Association sparked a slew of letters to the editor here at Patch. It also sparked a conversation that lasted for weeks. The president of the Nortborough Baseball and Softball Association sent a response, which was also one of our most read pieces of the year.
4. Kachadoor "Kachie" Berberian dies at 88: The beloved owner of Berberian Farms died in November.Northborough Patch is honored to have been able to tell his wartime stories a year earlier.
5. A torso is accidentally mailed to BJ's: That's quite an unusual mistake. The torso of a dead woman was mistakenly mailed to BJ’s headquarters in Westborough, and many of you wanted to read about it.
6. The power's out again! With numerous storms knocking out the electricity in town this year, Northborough Patch tries to keep on top of the updates, reporting who's without, why it's out, and when it's coming back. Hurricane Sandy, of course, sent many readers checking in on the status.
7. "My son's car broke down" cash scam: In June, residents were concerned about a scam that involved a female going to houses asking residents for money. According to police, she told people that her son had broken down on I-290 or Route 9 and that she needed money to help pay for the tow.
8. Woman stabs husband in the buttocks with a paring knife: At the beginning of 2012, a Northborough woman was charged with attempted murder, accused of stabbing her husband multiple times with a kitchen paring knife, according to police.
9. From tightrope performer in the Moscow circus to Northborough restaurant owner: Born in Russia, Yuri Krasnov has now been in the United States for 25 years, and took his first jump into the restaurant business this year in Northborough, opening the wildly popular Zem Han.
10. Beef is not so pretty in pink: In March, the "pink slime" concern captivated readers and food shoppers across the country. Tom Lowe, owner of Lowe's Variety and Meat Shop, was getting some 15 calls a day asking, "Do you use pink slime in your beef?"Lowe discussed the topic and assured his customers—there's no pink slime at Lowe's.