[September 07, 2011] Wytheville in 'Coolest Town' running Tweet Sep 06, 2011 (Wytheville Enterprise - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Whether or not you beg to differ, Wytheville is well on its way to being designated one of the 10 grooviest places in small town America. The town currently occupies the fourth place spot for Arthur Frommer's annual Budget Travel magazine "Coolest Small Towns" national online competition. And Abingdon is giving it a run for its money. Over the weekend, the two Southwest Virginia towns occupied the top two spots, with more than 1,000 votes each, but slipped to third and fourth place by Tuesday. "It's purely a popularity contest," said Wytheville's director of tourism, Rosa Lee Jude. The winner of the competition will be based primarily on the number of votes it receives. The contest is open to any town with a population of less than 10,000. That's really the only concrete criteria. But don't confuse "cool" with "quaint," Budget Travel's website cautions. The magazine, known widely for its travel guides and destination publications, is looking for towns with that X-factor, with pizzazz, not your run-of-the-mill small town. Visitors to the website have the opportunity to vote for their favorite small town on the list or nominate one that's not already there. They can vote once every 24 hours until Oct. 17. It might be next summer before the winning towns get their official designation, though. The 2011 winners, which were voted for in 2010, were announced just this past month. Last year's winner was Lewisburg, W.Va., a town not too far across the mountain ridge that's known for its Civil War ghost stories, scenic countryside and annual chocolate festival. "We needed to be in the running," Jude said, noting some of Wytheville's charms. Jude said she saw the competition a few years ago and had been wanting to get Wytheville in on the action ever since. Already Jude has sent e-mail blasts to friends, family and colleagues, posted the link on the town's Facebook page and encouraged everyone who comes through the doors of the visitors' center to check it out. "It's a way to show community pride," she said. While Jude said she'd be ecstatic if Wytheville actually won the top spot, just being in the top 10 and getting a brief feature in the magazine is good enough for some exposure--free exposure at that. "It costs us nothing but the vote," Jude said. "The price is right." Those wishing to vote can do so by going online to http://www.budgettravel.com/contest/coolest-small-towns-2012-nominations,8/ Follow link and scroll to Wytheville, VA, click on green "thumbs up" symbol to vote. Amanda Evans can be reached at 228-6611 or [email protected] ___ (c)2011 Wytheville Enterprise (Wytheville, Va.) Visit Wytheville Enterprise (Wytheville, Va.) at www.swvatoday.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]