Readers of Fremocentrist.com have rendered their ballots, and given us their choices for the Best of Fremont 2017. Thank you!
Every year, Fremocentrist readers are encouraged to give their choices for Best Business, Best Citizen and Best Organization/Project. Voting runs from mid-November to December 31st, and the votes for 2017 have been tabulated and the results are in!
- Best Citizen – Fremont has a lot of movers-and-shakers, and well-known names, but this year, a majority of voters chose a relative unknown. Honorable mention went to several of the usual suspects – Maque daVis of the Fremont Arts Council (Moisture Festival, and The Fremont Players,) Suzie Burke, Carrie Bauer of B.F. Day School, and Fawzi ‘Benny‘ Benhariz a.k.a. The Rock Balancer. Yet, runner-up was Larry Berger, a local hair stylist, known by many but entirely new to Fremocentrist and, the
winner is Elyse, a member of the staff at Red Star Taco Bar, and a very new name. - Best Business – This category generally gets nominations from all over the neighborhood. A former Best Business winner, Kaosamai Thai, gained several votes, and since the recently closed restaurant already won, it is ineligible. Voters acknowledged many established area businesses Fremont Mischief, Sinbad Express, Red Star Taco Bar, Red Door, Shawn O’Donnell’s, Fremont Brewing, Anytime Fitness Fremont, Fremont Coffee, Outsider Comics & Geek Boutique, among others that received only a single vote.
Yet, a majority of voters chose a brand-new business, Bar House, over all of them. - Best Organization/Non-Profit Projects – This category, like the other two, drew a lot of different names, and such a variety! Intended to recognize non-profits that do great work in Fremont, this year voters went many different ways with it. They voted for non-profits, including the Fremont Chamber, the Fremont Neighborhood Council and the Doric Lodge #92. They also voted for community enrichment projects such as Utility Box Art, The Dinos, and the Fremont Troll.
The winner is a neighborhood art work, possibly chosen due to a threatened removal in the last year. Voters chose the Statue of Lenin, by recently passed artist Emil Venkov.
Thank you to everyone who voted! It’s wonderful to see how many worthy candidates were identified – and the enthusiasm shown for acknowledgement. After the statuettes are engraved by Scott’s Trophys, expect to see photos of the winners – if they can be reached – when they are given their certificates and a trophy to hold for the coming year!
We hope to get even more voters, and more candidates, in November. Please think about it through the year, and send your choices to vote@box2219.temp.domains after Nov 15th.