Hopefully, by the time you read these words, you’ve already checked out our annual Lincoln Life publication that was inside today’s newspaper.

I’m an eternal optimist, so I’ll just presume you have, and you read it cover-to-cover prior to digging into the newspaper proper.

Lincoln Life — a 36-page book intended to showcase the best the community has to offer in many regards — is like our Super Bowl of newspaper editions. In addition to the always-popular community directories, we wanted to feature some of the events and organizations that show the character and heritage of Lincoln County.

Our team worked countless hours over the past three to four months putting this together.

We feel this was a true success and arguably The IJ’s best special section ever.

Everyone contributed in some way but our newsroom, advertising representatives and graphic designers all deserve extra praise for all the hard work they put into this and for making a commitment to excellence.

It is easy to get fatigued when tackling projects of this magnitude, but no one ever lost sight of the ultimate goal. It truly feels worth it when you hold the finished product in your hands.

We appreciate all the individuals who shared their stories with us — and by extension — shared them with you. We truly think there is something of interest to everyone.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank all of the advertisers who supported this project and realized it is a great avenue for directly reaching engaged citizens who truly want to support local businesses.

Without these two groups none of this would be possible.

So, take a short break from your busy life, grab a cup of coffee or your favorite beverage and immerse yourself in the heroes and heritage of Lincoln County.

We hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed working on it.

Michael Caldwell is publisher of The Interior Journal. He can be reached at (859) 759-0095 or by email at mike.caldwell@theinteriorjournal.com.