Petula Bowa lists her favourite stories from the Bendigo Advertiser in 2022

It was a difficult task choosing some of my favourite stories of the year as I have worked on many, across different topics, and enjoyed all of them and for different reasons - which is reflected in the eclectic mix you'll see below.

This year was monumental for news and I hope you have enjoyed reading our work as much as we've enjoyed covering it.

We have been side-by-side with our readers, rubbing shoulders at community events, celebrating the milestones and achievements, mourning those we have lost, providing critical information in times of danger, and dealing with the aftermath of natural disasters such as the flooding that swept the region.

And while we've covered the difficult and devastating, we've also aimed to highlight the uplifting and positive stories that shine a light, unite, affect change, inspire, and bring hope.

In a heart-warming story that shows the power and importance of community, we saw Dingee locals banding together to buy back their pub to restore it as a gathering place for locals and visitors.

The Dingee Railway Hotel closed its doors in November last year as the COVID-19 pandemic made the pub's operation unviable for the owners and it was put up for sale shortly after.

Now 139 years later, it will soon be the principal meeting place once again for a Dingee community which refused to let its pub die.

As you can tell by the above sub-head, there are many elements to this unique, weird, and wonderful story.

The horse - Subzero or 'Subbie' - was one of the most well-known and loved champion horses in Australia, and the man was Graham Salisbury, a former clerk of the course and Subbie's best mate.

The hidden gem is the school that had only a handful of students - making it one of the smallest schools in Australia, if not the world.

In this story, the three worlds collide - tied together by an author - even if just for a brief moment...

The iconic Maldon Bakery reopened with Rebecca Barnett as the new owner and John Downes as the head baker.

With a shared passion for old traditional baking techniques and good quality ingredients, Ms Barnett and Mr Downes make the ultimate baking pair.

Together, Barnett and Downes plan to restore the Maldon staple to its former glory and resurrect a lost art - truly touching.

Halloween enthusiasts Gary and Jenny Hilson decorated their White Hills home to the nines for Halloween - evening winning a competition and $10,000 prize for it.

This story was as fun to read as it was to write, with the Hilsons' decorations and costumes being unmatched, and their effort and dedication to being spooky, leaving us in awe.

Read the story and see pictures of their haunted home if you dare...

Local student and climate change activist Jemima Kreutzer was featured in our national climate change series.

Her advocacy spoke of the fears and hopes she has for our climate, which have been brought to the forefront with accelerating extreme weather events and natural disasters.

In Bendigo, Jemima channels her grief into school activism through the Marist Climate Collaboration which educates students about waste reduction, recycling, and biodiversity.

"If we start educating people early in school, especially for the younger year levels - because we're a prep to 12 school - it helps a lot more," she said.

She wanted to help bring younger children into a world that's healing.

It's not every day that you get to work with your best friend, who is also your brother, who also shares the same passions as you.

But that day came for Ben and Sam Drechsler when they were rostered on to work the same shift in Bendigo one afternoon.

The crime-fighting duo responded to triple-0 calls as part of their duties for the day - fulfilling a dream for the pair while also helping people.

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