Congratulations go out to the Tulameen locals (and Tulameen fans) who worked so hard to vote in the Readers’ Digest “Canada’s Most Interesting Towns” contest. Voting closed on December 18, and Tulameen had a whopping 120,033 votes, coming in with the third highest votes out of a total of 661 entries. That is pretty impressive for a town of only 250 people.
On January 17 winners of the contest will be announced and cash prizes awarded. Judges will decide from all the entries which towns deserve the title “Canada’s Most Interesting Towns”, and the towns with the most votes will be featured in upcoming magazines. Regardless of whether Tulameen wins a prize, they have shown that with a lot of community spirit, even a small town can make itself noticed.
The competition was fierce. Day after day thousands of bleary eyed Canadians perched hypnotically at their computers, punched in codes and voted for their favourite towns over and over again. Aproned mothers across the country, ladle in hand, told their families “no soup for you until you give me 20 votes.” Teenagers begging to use the family car were told “no car without 30 votes.” Dedicated supporters sipped their double-double coffee from straws so as not to take their eyes, or their hands, off the keyboard as they cast their ballots. Oh Canada – “true patriot love” has shone through with this contest, eh! While many voted, others were scoping out the competition to find out which towns were sneaking up to them in numbers. Canadians love a challenge. So thanks, Readers’ Digest, for giving Canadians an opportunity to do some good, wholesome bragging about the towns they live in. I’m sure there will be a Canada-wide epidemic of carpel tunnel syndrome and computer shop owners will be rubbing their hands in glee as they replace worn out keyboards.
It was great fun; and regardless of the outcome in January, we all know that Tulameen, the “little town that could” has once again proven itself to have great community spirit and pride. Congratulations on ANOTHER job well done!