Vote now, vote often: Washington in the running for coolest small town title
Published 8:12 pm Thursday, November 6, 2014
![CITY OF WASHINGTON | CONTRIBUTED GETTING AROUND: This Gen. George Washington bobble-head — in front of the new dockmaster’s station on the waterfront — is part of the campaign to have Washington named as one of America’s Coolest Small Towns.](https://www.thewashingtondailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/11/NEWS_COOLEST-SMALL-TOWN_141107-WEB.jpg)
CITY OF WASHINGTON | CONTRIBUTED
GETTING AROUND: This Gen. George Washington bobble-head — in front of the new dockmaster’s station on the waterfront — is part of the campaign to have Washington named as one of America’s Coolest Small Towns.
So, you think you’re done voting for this year. Well, think again, especially if you like living in Washington — or visiting it.
There’s a campaign afoot to have Washington, the first town in the United States of America named for Gen. George Washington, chosen as America’s Coolest Small Town. Lynn Wingate, Washington’s tourism-development director, is scheduled to explain the campaign to the Washington City Council during its meeting Monday.
“This is a promotion that’s done annually by Budget Travel magazine. Budget Travel, if you’ve never read it, is a fantastic publication because … a lot of the information in the magazine is user-generated. So, it’s not necessarily travel writers. It’s tips and things that frugal travelers need to know; and frugal travelers are always looking for the best bang for their buck. So, this sort of goes along with that theme of finding the coolest small towns,” Wingate said. “It’s based on consumer input, which is another part of it that makes the contest very cool. It’s not something that the tourism office does. It’s not something that your advertising dollars pay for. It is totally based on feedback from people who love the small towns that have been nominated.”
How does one vote for Washington? It’s easy. Visit www.BudgetTravel.com and click on the banner to nominate America’s Coolest Small Town. Click on the green thumb’s-up logo next to Washington, NC.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Washington ranked third, behind Hillsborough, N.C., and Huron, Ohio, ranked first and second, respectively, at that time.
A person may vote once every 24 hours, and that person may vote by smartphone, tablet and computer. A poster asking people to vote for Washington instructs them to include #littlewashingtonnc and #ACST2015 on their social-media posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Wingate said the local campaign is targeting young people, hoping they will use #littlewashingtonnc and #ACST2015 when posting photographs of Washington on social-media sites. Around the city, posters are up promoting the campaign. By using the QR code on the posters, people may use their electronic devices to vote for Washington, Wingate said.
Nominations will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. Dec. 2. The nominees will be reviewed and narrowed to a list of 15 finalists. In January 2015, the finalists will be posted and a new round of voting begins. The 10 top finishers will be announced in February 2015.
The contest seeks towns with populations less than 10,000 people and “a certain something that no place has: great shops, food, a unique history, a breathtaking location, peerless music scene, art galleries or maybe something cool we haven’t thought of yet,” according to the Budget Travel website.
Berlin, Md., was America’s Coolest Small Town for this year, according to the website.
During the “Terror the Turnage” production at the Turnage Theater on Halloween night, attendees were asked to vote for Washington.
The city’s tourism website — www.littlewashingtonnc.com — has a link to the contest. Under “quick links” on the tourism website, click on “E-Newsletter” and look under the New & Newsworthy header for the America’s Coolest Small Town entry.