In The Pipeline:

I’ll take a blue Christmas over a white one any day of the week — if, by blue, we’re talking about the deep-turquoise color the waves were Christmas Day under clear blue skies. Watching my son and daughter run at the water’s edge, the wind at their backs and a million dreams before them, reminded me once more why I love Huntington Beach so much. It was also a nice opportunity to reflect on this column, both on the year past and the one ahead.

The preceding 12 months have been tumultuous, as most years are, I guess, but I think this past one has been particularly eventful. Here In The Pipeline, you and I have been witness to stories surrounding several tragic events: the Dane Williams case, evolving finally after almost two frustrating years; the Danny Oates case, which finally saw some resolution recently with the conviction of Jeffrey Woods; and the losses of Christopher Hernandez, Allyssa Squirrell and Natalie Sanchez — bright, young, shining faces who left this world far too soon.

And there was also hope. We met Mike Fisher, a local teenager bravely battling brain cancer — an amazing young man. And there were other stories of faith and dedication — a hair salon dedicated to supporting the troops, a blind man who sees better than most of us thanks to his mastery of “Echo-location,” and war veterans who continually visit school to make sure that kids never forget.

Then there were the rock star’s parents, the dog beach, the efforts to save Alice’s Breakfast in the Park, the battle over a cell-phone tower, a meeting with Larry King, tales from the precious wetlands, visits with legendary locals, a trip in the Goodyear Blimp, sessions with several local pro baseball players, a surfing champ and a Byrd (Chris Hillman) on the eve of the Golden Bear reunion. Add to those centennial columns, spotlights on some special local businesses, and this becomes a year I will especially never forget, for better or worse.

The old 1950s-’60s TV series “Naked City” used to end with a narrator saying, “There are 8 million stories in the Naked City; this has been one of them.” The Naked City had nothing on Huntington Beach.

As for the upcoming year, my goal for In The Pipeline is to keep searching for compelling local stories that shed a bit of light on the human condition. As the paper evolves and the paper’s website becomes more developed, eventually I’d like to start creating audio podcasts of each column, expanding each story into a mini-radio documentary. Hopefully, that will be up and running in several months.

Another resolution I have is to let this column serve as a springboard to creating a student writing program here in Huntington Beach. I meet many young writers when I speak at schools, and it would be fun (and productive) to help their writing talents grow.

And of course, I’ll look forward to communicating with you. This column will turn 4 years old in April, and in that time, I think, the best part of this extraordinary experience for me has been hearing from you — your ideas, comments and reactions. Thank you very much, and I encourage you to continue. Thank you, as to my editors, for allowing me this precious space to tell a story each week. It really is a privilege.

Finally, I followed up this week with a young man you may have read about here in the sports page of The Independent recently — Luke Gane. A friend of his, Karen Orr, wrote me about him recently:

“I don’t know if you are aware of the story of Luke Gane. Luke plays football for Edison High School.

In the fall of ’08, his junior year, he was diagnosed with aplastic anemia and needed a bone marrow transfusion to survive.

One of his brothers was a perfect match, and the procedure was a success.

This year, Luke is a starter on both the offense and defense for Edison. Edison is playing Servite next week at Anaheim Stadium for the CIF Southern Section championship.”

Well, Edison may have lost the game to Servite, but they won in their battle to help their buddy Luke.

I wanted to talk with Luke after the game and get a sense of how he feels at the end of this year that presented him with a number of challenges.

“I thank God for my teammates and how they helped me deal with this,” he said. “I also thank God for putting me in a position to help other young people that are going through similar challenges. That’s my path now, and I accept that role. And I feel fortunate that I can reach out and help others now.”

I’m not sure what resolutions you’re making this year, but one of mine is to think more like Luke — selflessly and courageously.

He’s another one of these remarkable stories in a city that has at least 8 million — Huntington Beach — and I look forward to bringing many more to you this coming year.

Thank you again, and wishing you a most happy new year.

CHRIS EPTING is the author of 14 books, including the new “Huntington Beach Then & Now.” You can write him at chris@chrisepting.com .