Earlier this month, The Barrington Hills Observer celebrated our 10th anniversary. That’s right, we officially marked our launch on December 9, 2009.

Back then we had no idea what to expect, since there were no other independent websites in Barrington Hills. As time went on, some sites did crop up, but for the most part they were (or are now) Facebook variants with little original content.

Since our launch ten years ago, as of today there have been 2,576 postings to The Observer, and there have been 2,957 reader comments logged. Hundreds of residents subscribe to our postings, and the number continues to grow.

None of us imagined the reception we would get from our residents and visitors, and we’re sincerely grateful.

So today we recognize our readers, commentators and hundreds of loyal subscribers as the Shining Stars of the Decade.

We cannot thank you enough!