In a year full of hard news, these are some of the stories that made us smile in 2024: NPR

An MBTA subway car in Boston has googly eyes under the windshield.

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Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority/AP

To say the least, 2024 didn’t hold back with grim news. You could be forgiven for looking at the headlines of the past year and wondering whether you should throw your phone into the nearest body of water.

But let’s not let this gloom obscure the joy that 2024 also brought – like when millions marveled at a total solar eclipse! A steady drumbeat of good news sounded across the country, whether we were paying attention or not. And if not, NPR member stations have been keeping track.

Here are some of the stories from coast to coast that made us smile in 2024:

A boy from Iowa wanted to ride a motorcycle for his 11th birthday. Over 250 motorcyclists came to his party to fulfill his wish.
Dallas Grave became obsessed with motorcycles after he met a group of cyclists while operating a lemonade stand, Iowa Public Radio reported in October. When he asked to ride a motorcycle for his birthday, his mother, Ashley Kirkes, thought she would put out an open invitation on Facebook to any motorcyclists who would come along and give him a ride. She couldn’t imagine what would happen in the end: dozens of them came, with gifts to boot.

A school district in Missouri named a school building after its beloved administrator.
According to KCUR, Claudene Wilson started as a counselor in the Swedeborg School District in 1992. But as the years went by, she began to wear more hats, such as bus driver, lawn mower and office answering machine. Generations of students got to know and love her as a reliable supporter of their school. So at the beginning of this school year, the district decided to name its K-8 elementary school after her to celebrate her more than 30 years of service.

A mother grizzly bear and her cub in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

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Grizzly bears are being reintroduced to the North Cascades.
According to KUOW, it has been nearly three decades since anyone has seen a grizzly anywhere near North Cascades National Park, northeast of Seattle, even though the bears used to dominate the area. Now several grizzly bears are flown into the North Cascades each summer from Montana, Wyoming and British Columbia to slowly rebuild the population.

A group of Bostonians asked the local train authority to add googly eyes to some of their trains. It worked!
It’s a classic, if unorthodox, example of successful grassroots organizing: Some Bostonians gathered to ask the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to give the trains the googly eyes. And as WBUR reported back in June, the MBTA complied. Only five of the trains have these eyes, but a little whimsy goes a long way.

The total solar eclipse blinded northern New Hampshire.
Northern New Hampshire was one of the regions in the path of the total solar eclipse in the US last April – and tourists flocked there accordingly. New Hampshire Public Radio staff spoke to everyone from road trippers to small business owners, state parks employees and local university students. The verdict? As one visitor from Maryland said, “It was the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.”

Philly’s Kensington Derby once again brought together the city’s craziest human-powered vehicles.
Picture this: 15,000 Philadelphians cheering on cyclists, tricycle riders and roller skaters dressed as Shrek, the Phillie Phanatic, parking cones and a giant nautilus. That was the scene seen at the 16th edition of the Kensington Derby, where competitors tackled a 3-mile course that ended in a mud pit at the finish line. As WHYY reported, it’s all for a good cause: Proceeds go to supporting local community development organizations.

The sun catches the sunglasses of a man watching the Great North American Solar Eclipse April 8 in Colebrook, NH

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For the first time since the 17th century, the Nansemond Indian Nation held its annual pow wow on land it officially owned.
Back in May, the city council of Suffolk, Virginia, voted to return 71 acres of land to the Nansemond, the result of a years-long debate between the city and the tribe, which was driven from the land in the 17th century. WHO reported on the Pow Wow, where tribal members celebrated together with dancing, food and more.

A duck named Polly won over everyone at a Texas animal shelter.
Caregivers at All Things Wild Rehabilitation believe Polly, a year-old Pekin duck missing part of her beak, was abandoned at a pond by her previous owner and attacked by a snapping turtle. But as KUT reported, they know one thing for sure: Polly loves everyone at the shelter, and everyone loves Polly. The proof of this: They made her a 3D printed prosthetic bill with donations from the community.

When the owners of a Seattle music venue went out of business, employees stepped in to keep it running as a cooperative.
The Conor Byrne Pub, a popular music venue frequented by up-and-coming artists, threatened to close its doors forever earlier this year, KNKX reported. Instead, it will become a cooperative funded and operated by community members, thanks to the efforts of its former employees.

Researchers announced a new species of dinosaur unearthed in Montana.
When a University of Utah paleontologist and his students began examining small bone fragments for research in 2022, all they knew was that they were bones that had been unearthed in northern Montana several years earlier, according to Yellowstone Public Radio. They had no idea they had obtained parts of a never-before-discovered dinosaur, whose reconstruction was unveiled last June. His name: Lokiceratops rangiformisnamed after the Norse god Loki.

Signs point to an endangered snake making a comeback in Indiana.
The Kirtland snake, a small, red-bellied reptile, is considered endangered in Indiana. However, recent sightings suggest the species is recovering, according to Indiana Public Media. While exploring a recently restored wetland near Bloomington, Indiana, local officials found some snakes in an abandoned soybean field nearby – an unusual location that has herpetologists optimistic that snakes will return to the state.

Looking for more feel-good stories? Check out Iowa Public Radio’s daily newsletter dedicated to good news: The Sunnyside Project.

This article contains reports from Newsrooms of member stations throughout the USA