As elsewhere in the region, the weather in Basking Ridge and the rest of the Somerset Hills became a topic that far exceeded polite chit-chat during 2011.

Late August's Hurricane Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm, but still brought high winds, a power outage that lasted almost a week for some customers and flooding in such areas as neighboring Long Hill Township.

Then an unseasonal snowstorm on Oct. 29 dropped heavy snow on trees and bushes that hadn't yet lost their leaves. The result was more downed lines — and power outages that lasted even longer than a week for some people. Bernards Township and Bernardsville had nearly all of their households without power on the day of the storm.

The quirky weather we had starting in late August was a follow-up to an unusually severe winter that began with a blizzard last Dec. 26, 2010. But that was just the beginning! It seemed like winter would never end last spring.

Another "October Surprise" for many was the announcement by Bernards Township Schools Superintendent Valerie Goger that both she and Regina Rudolph, assistant schools superintendent will retire at the end of this school year, as of June 30, 2012.

However, by December, the Board of Education had decided to promote schools business adminstrator Nick Markarian to the top administrative spot, pending final approvals, including a vote by the new board members who would be serving following the April election.

Although they were opposed by two Democrats, it was probably less of a surprise that Republican incumbents Mary Pavlini and John Carpenter were in November re-elected to additional three-year terms on the Township Committee. At least for this year, the Township Committee remains all Republican.

However, a new face was elected last April to the Board of Education, when candidate Priti Shah narrowly edged out incumbent Beverly Cwerner. Cwerner brought the matter to court and to the county Board of Elections, which held a recount.

Certainly, the event that will remain on many minds through this holiday season is the Nov. 28 car crash that killed two township 20-year-olds, Kevin Herron and Thomas Ekberg.

Another somber occasion was recalled with the Liberty Corner Fire Co.'s dedication of a memorial to firefighters killed on Sept. 11, 2001. That ceremony was held at the firehouse this past Sept. 11.

Then this December, a more happy annual event — the placing of a giant holiday tree in downtown Basking Ridge — provided a focal point for a community-wide caroling event on Christmas Eve.