It’s an understatement to say this is a busy time of year: Depending on when you grabbed this issue, you’re likely about to celebrate Thanksgiving, dealing with the aftermath of gorging yourself on Thanksgiving, hitting the Black Friday sales, hitting the Small Business Saturday Sales, or – if you’re like me – trying to clean your garage so you can fit your car inside before winter truly arrives.

But amid all this business and busy-ness, we hope you take a bit of time to join the thousands of other Chippewa Valley folks who take part in our annual Best of the Chippewa Valley Reader Poll.

In case you haven’t seen the ads, emails, or social media posts, we’re in the midst of the voting period for our 18th annual poll, which opened Nov. 19 and ends at midnight Friday, Dec. 6. What started as a modest tally of our reader’s favorites in a few dozen categories has evolved into a veritable juggernaut of opinions about everything from Best Appetizer to Best Bar DJ to Best Car Wash – and that’s just the first three letters of the alphabet!

It may sound like a cliché, but it’s true: This year’s poll is the biggest ever in terms of questions (388 of them!) as well as votes and voters (tens of thousands in the first few days alone). We know all those questions can be overwhelming, which is why you’ve got a couple of weeks to vote. Once you’re done with the Thanksgiving eating, holiday shopping, or garage cleaning, we advise you to grab the beverage and Internet-enabled device of your choice, visit VolumeOne.org/BestOf, and pick your favorites. Then, keep an eye out for the winners in our huge Best Of issue on Feb. 6, 2025. Thanks – you guys really are the best!