By now many of our readers and most, if not all, of those who won the Reader’s Choice Awards this year are aware of their awards, so I wanted to take a moment this week to say congratulations once again to the local businesses that have been chosen as the Best of the Best. 

Sure, we could have just picked our favorites, but when the community votes on who is the most deserving of recognition, I think it means a little more.  

Thank you so much to each and every one who took the time to fill out a ballot, either the printed copy or the one online. Your participation means a lot to us at the newspaper, and I know it means a lot to those who you all chose as the winners of this contest.  

It makes me proud to see how proud people in the community are of their respective awards. The excited posts on Facebook and photos of the certificates – and of course all the congratulatory comments – make me happy!  

I don’t know, personally, what it takes to run a business – much less run one so well a community comes together and votes it as one of the Best of the Best. I can only imagine it makes the long hours and the inevitable stress that comes along with being your own boss a little more worth it.  

May 26 a special section inside the newspaper will recognize those our readers chose to honor in this contest. I urge everyone to pick up a copy of that issue and continue to patronize these businesses in our Hartselle that are the lifeblood of our community and our local economy.  

Thanks again for participating in the Best of the Best, and to those who won, congratulations! Thank you for all you do for Hartselle.