What would the end of the year be without a look back? In the next couple of weeks, Bee bloggers will take a look at the events, people and things -- locally and nationally -- that made 2008 special, beginning with Favorite Fresno Event. Many cool things happened in, around, and to Fresno this year, and they deserve to be remembered. As always, we hope you'll share your thoughts in the comments section.

John Rich, Sports Buzz: It's gotta be Fresno State winning the College World Series. It didn't happen in Fresno, but here are three arguments for why it counts as a Fresno event: 3) Most everyone in town that final week was either glued to a TV, radio or the Internet getting updates; 2) We love a parade; 1) Omaha is Fresno of the Midwest.

Craig Kohlruss, Bee There photo blog: My Favorite Fresno Event of 2008 was the celebration for the Fresno State baseball team at Beiden Field on June 26. The day the team won the World Series was kind of an impromptu event of note, too. Driving down Shaw I could see people flooding out of the Doghouse Grill and into the street cheering and high-fiving anybody within reach. It will be a while before we ever see anything like that again.

Kathy Mahan: I didn't participate, but I thought the Urban Dare event was cool. I enjoyed reading Felicia's take on competing. It seemed like the contestants had fun and it made me wish I had jumped in and tried to solve the puzzles. Maybe next year.

Mike Oz: The FUSE Festival. Even though I couldn't make it (it was my anniversary), I'm most happy to see Fresno finally get the downtown music festival it deserves in the Fresno Urban Sound Experience. For close to two years I'd been on an e-mail list with the festival planners -- seeing them talk about their vision. For it to come together, successfully I might add, was a tribute to Fresno's creative community, its music scene and the Fresno-needs-this-so-I'm-gonna-make-it-happen volunteer spirit that births many great events in this city. I look forward to FUSE '09.

Traci Arbios, Central Valley Moms: Being a social recluse, I wasn't allowed into the public much this year. I did, however, find my way to the Crime Stoppers dinner. It was great! I'd never been before -- and after going this year, I hope to make it an annual event.

Felicia Matlosz: For me, it was the Rogue Festival. This was the first year that I took in so many of the performances, from fantastic jazz (thank you again drummer Steve Mitchell and trio) to a performance of the play "Art" by Brandon Petrie, Blake Ellis and James Hume. Rogue was overwhelming in its scale and talent and gusto.

Will Albritton: Definitely the Rogue Festival. This was the seventh year of the festival, and it continued to cement its standing as Fresno's signature event. If you read The Beehive regularly, you know the knock "there's nothing to do in Fresno" isn't true. With the Rogue, however, you can actually do it. And yes, I did the Rogue this year, and -- because this year's event was nothing short of awesome -- I'm doing it again in a couple of months. But either as an audience member or a performer, you get a very real Fresno experience. Most of the acts (from original plays like the ones with which I've been involved to solo acts to musicians trying out something new to dance ensemble shows) are locally produced. So there you are, forking over 5 bucks to watch your neighbors do their art. And it's packed tightly into two weeks, during which the Tower District is taken over and Fresno truly comes alive as an arts town. Anyway, it's really cool, and it surprises me to hear that my favorite Fresno event is one that some people still haven't heard of.

Mike Nemeth, Bee Business blog: Perhaps the highlight of my year in events was watching my son, Calvin Nemeth, 15, in the Clovis High 1960s production of "The Taming of the Shrew" in October. He played a supporting role but did end up taking Jocelynn Suarez, who plays the unsinkable Kate, to the school's formal.

Heather McLane: My favorite event happened just recently -- Pecha Kucha Night. Twenty slides, twenty seconds per slide, twelve presenters on topics as varied as wildlife photography, solar panel design, jewelry design, architecture and even deer iconography in art. Fascinating subjects, and a fantastic way to present them. I highly recommend attending the next one, which should be in the spring.

Donald Munro: In terms of sheer audience enthusiasm, an atmosphere of sell-out mania and community-building excitement, my favorite is the Artists' Reperory Theatre production of "The Rocky Horror Show" at the Severance Building. At one performance I walked into the downstairs lobby an hour before the show and found a huge line of people -- many of them in their 20s and 30s, a demographic that's sometimes in short supply at live theater these days -- just waiting to get good seats. And then there were the folks hanging around hoping for cancellations so they could get in. It was nice. Everything seemed to come together in this production, from Jeff White's clever sets and music director John Koontz awesome live band to Daniel Chavez's dazzling, stomp-worthy performance as Frank N. Furter. The best thing is that ART was introduced to a whole new audience.

[Photo: Craig Kohlruss]

Your turn. What did we miss?