If you thought 2009 went by in a blur, you're not alone. Not only is it a new year -- already -- it's the dawn of a new decade.

Before we consign these days to the pages of the past, let's take a look back at some of the more memorable things our neighbors said this year. Some of it was wise, some of it funny, but all of it helped to define the community that is home.

"Maybe I should write a sequel. I didn't even touch upon the schools and churches."

-- Marcia Pugliese Russotto, author whose memoir of childhood in the 1950s and '60s in Sharpsburg and nearby towns stirred enthusiasm in the community (Jan. 29)

"Out of all of the submissions, only the one from Deer Lakes could just go straight on the air as is; it was that well produced. I saw in the production a lot of the elements that professionals use."

-- Sgt. 1st Class Eric Witmer, of the Pennsylvania National Guard, about the winning entry in an anti-drug video contest produced by Deer Lakes Middle School students (March 19)

"The cafeteria lady might say, 'I remembered you have a big test today. I made your favorite lunch!' and the kids love that."

-- Kim Baysek, teacher, on the encouraging environment at Shaler Area School District's Reserve Primary School, named a top 25 Title I school in Pennsylvania in 2009 (March 26)

"I don't like tanning, so I wouldn't tan. And I will do the rest myself -- I'll fix my own hair, do my own nails and makeup, so I should save a lot of money that way. ... I know a lot of people get limos, but one of my friends' mom is a bus driver, so we thought it would be really cool and fun to ride the bus."

-- Samantha Demas, of Richland, on ways to save money on prom night in a tight economy (April 9)

"My son and his wife show animals and we go to farm shows with them. I am probably the only winner who bought a cow with my money."

-- Eleanor Swope, of Jefferson, who works at Tender Care Learning Center in Hampton, on her $500 prize money for being named a Top 10 childcare worker by the Terri Lynn Lokoff Child Care Foundation (April 16)

"We were talking about how the Amish do things and thought we'd try it. We built a stairwell with a handsaw, manual screwdriver and hammers, until [teacher John] Brown told us to hurry it up."

-- Steve Singer, student at North Hills High School and A.W. Beattie Career Center, about a house he and classmates built in carpentry class. (April 30)

"Some say the flu is spreading more and some say people are overreacting. I was shocked that we couldn't go."

-- Matt Bocchi, of Winfield, a student at St. Joseph High School in Harrison, on the cancellation of a student trip to the VEX Robotics Competition in Dallas because of concern about the H1N1 virus (May 7)

"They are getting their dose of science, technology, engineering and math, but they are getting it with something that's very palatable, and I don't see anything wrong with that."

-- Michael Robinson, of Mars, who teaches a guitar-building class at Butler County Community College (May 7)

"We have something to offer them. They can walk across the stage with their classmates and receive a Highlands diploma."

-- Walt Henzlik, assistant principal of Highlands High School, on the district-based cyber school option for students (May 14)

"These guys were the innovators. Without the coal, you wouldn't have the steel. When they came out of the mine at the end of the day, they built that community."

-- Steven Paulovich, artist who created a bronze statue of a coal miner in Harmar that was paid for with money raised in the community (May 21)

"I just decided my mission here was not just to make money, it was to make something beautiful."

-- Jeffrey Reynolds, of Ross, who spent a decade restoring Kneiss Miniature Golf on Babcock Boulevard in Ross (June 11)

"Our membership is, I guess we should say, elderly. About two-thirds of our membership is over 65. But we hadn't thrown in the towel until this happened."

-- Pat Rudy, of Sewickley Hills, on the decision not to hold the Mount Nebo Grange Fair this year because of state budget cuts, the first time in 39 years the fair was not held (June 18)

"We didn't have important historic events like the Battle of Bushy Run in Ross. Our story is the people who lived here."

-- Sandy M. Brown, member of the committee that published a history of Ross for the town's 200th anniversary (June 25)

"Dresses can make just about everyone look ridiculous. You learn to get a dress that you can actually swing in."

-- Jack Finn, a founder of The Three Club One Eye Open charity golf outing in Middlesex, where male players dress as women (July 16)

"True reform takes on many forms. It takes people in organizations and takes people out of the circle of organizations. Right now we are on the outside."

-- Kim Geyer, president of Mars Area school board, on the district's decision to withdraw from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (July 30)

"In the city, you can see people sleeping under bridges and over grates. In rural areas like Butler County, they are more hidden: They're couch-hopping, living in a tent in the woods, sleeping in a car."

-- Janine Kennedy, director of Butler County Community Action, on what experts call "the hidden homeless" of rural areas (July 30)

"There's not one magic thing that makes it great. It's 50 little details that interact together."

-- Jack Needham, of Brighton Heights, on the guitars he builds by hand in a warehouse on the North Side (Aug. 13)

"This is the way younger people communicate."

­-- Jerry Andree, Cranberry manager, offering one reason the township is using Twitter (Sept. 3)

"My goal is to preserve the history of the North Hills and to give kids the opportunity to see history. Most kids don't know what a record player is."

-- Joe Bullick, official historian of North Allegheny School District and unofficial historian of the North Hills on the opening of North Allegheny History Museum in McKnight Elementary School (Sept. 10)

"We thought we didn't really care that much. Then, when they announced us, it was a shock, and we all kind of shot up out of our chairs. I guess we were all really hoping for it!"

-- Patrick Lope, of Ben Avon Heights, on sharing a Daytime Emmy for the documentary series "True Life" on MTV (Sept. 17)

"He had dedicated his life to fire service and the fire police. He deserves that recognition."

-- Amy Warrick, on learning that the name of her late father -- Ross Fire Police Capt. John A Brenckle -- would be added to the Fallen Firefighters's Memorial in Emmitsburg, Md. He died Sept. 23, 2004, of a blood infection contracted while directing traffic in bacteria-infested floodwaters (Sept. 23)

"Dr. Cunningham told us when questions were asked that he felt we wouldn't understand the answers. Maybe if someone put it in crayon, I'd understand better."

-- Dean Berkebile, of the Seneca Valley school board, who was angry about information he said was withheld from the board about renovation plans for Butler County Area Vocational Technical School. Dr. Cunningham was the vocational administrative director of the school. (Sept. 23)

"We didn't know what we were doing, and we were asking for amounts like $300,000. We kept getting 'no, no, no' when Gregg Behr from the Grable Foundation came out for a meeting. We explained what we were doing; he said, 'You guys are absolutely nuts, but in a good way.' "

-- Brian Wolovich, of Millvale, about early efforts to raise money to open a library in Millvale (Oct. 8)

"Everyone asks me when I'm going to stop doing it. But I don't know. ... To see the looks on the kids' and parents' faces when they see it is really priceless."

-- Joel Keefer, 58, of Aspinwall, on carving a 1,261-pound pumpkin on his porch (Oct. 29)

"[The scanners are] working for 98 to 99 percent of our students. They aren't forgetting their fingers."

-- Jill Swaney, Mars Area School District business manager, on the new hand-scanners in the middle and high school cafeteria (Nov. 5)

"It is not politically popular to talk about tax increases, but I ask you all to be brave."

-- Kate Pavelle, of Ross, asking commissioners to continue to provide funding for Northland Public Library (Nov. 12)

"We want to teach our children to care about others, and this is a fun project to do just that."

-- Gabrielle Yingling, principal of St. Athanasius School in West View, on student involvement in a parish project to serve Thanksgiving dinner to parishioners who are alone (Nov. 19)

"There are people who used to be able to give who are looking for help now. They've lost their jobs. Maybe their benefits are running out."

-- Janine Kennedy, director of Butler County Community Action, on the need for a countywide food drive for the holidays (Dec. 3)

"I used to give tickets away to my friends for blind dates. I thought it was a great way to meet. If the two were hitting it off, they could talk [during the circus]. If it wasn't going well, they could watch the show."

-- Arlene Milon, a vice president of Madison Square Gardens Entertainment in New York, who books the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes traveling show from her Hampton home, on her previous career promoting Ringling Brothers Circus (Dec. 19)

"We told the dad we would take [Herbert] and love him until he dies."

-- Jamie McMurtrie, one of two Ben Avon sisters who live in Haiti and care for children in an orphanage there, describing a newborn, who was brought to the facility near death but survived with round-the-clock care (Dec. 24)

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