It’s been a busy time here at the newspaper as we gather photos and information for our annual Graduation edition, always a reader favorite, showcasing graduating seniors from public and private schools in the community.

We’re also put the finishing touches on our annual Superheroes of Western Tidewater edition, which will be inserted in next week’s edition. We hope it inspires our readers as much as we were inspired by the stories of the everyday heroes featured in this year’s edition.

Begun a couple of years ago soon after the outbreak of COVID-19, the edition is a collaboration with our journalistic “cousins” at the Suffolk News-Herald, Windsor Weekly and The Tidewater News in Franklin. We thought it might be a one-time publication in 2020, but feedback from readers was so positive that we’ve continued to publish it annually.

The truth is that the people who, through volunteer service or their vocation, serve their fellow man were doing so long before COVID, and continue to do so today as our lives return to normal after two years of lockdowns and other pandemic-related disruptions.

There’s a whole lot to love about Western Tidewater, but one of the best is the comfort of knowing that it is filled with caring community servants who will be there in our time of need. This year’s Heroes edition features a range of such servants, from a Surry bus driver who rescued children from a burning school bus to a Southampton County minister who has tended the spiritual needs of his congregants and others for decades.

Narrowing the list of heroes we feature each year is a difficult task. So many are deserving of the spotlight for what they do day in and day out to serve others.

If you know someone deserving of inclusion next year, please let us know with an email to news@smithfieldtimes.com. We’ve already started compiling a list.