FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 | Jim and Bonnie Parr
at The Custard Stand. |
SKOKIE, Ill., (June 27, 2011) - America has
spoken and the results are in! Addison/Webster Springs has been named one of six finalists competing for the Best for Food title in Rand McNally's search for the Best of the Road with USA TODAY. In a monthlong call for nominations and votes, more than 20,000 Americans from coast to coast weighed in to name their favorite town as the Most Beautiful, Most Patriotic, Friendliest, Most Fun or Best for Food.
Addison/Webster Springs will be competing among Burnsville, MN; Costa Mesa, CA; Gulfport, FL; Lafayette, LA; and Visalia, CA.
The top 30 finalist towns across five categories were narrowed down from more than 600 submissions, and were determined by a combination of public appeal and analysis of reviews and photos by the judges. Five teams participating in the Best of the RoadRally departed New York City on June 23 for a three-week cross-country road trip in which they will personally visit and review each of the finalist towns in their assigned category.
The Fun Finders team -- Bonnie and Jim Parr -- visited Addison/Webster Springs on Saturday, June 25, and the Rand McNally film crew visited Sunday, June 26."It was an honor to show Webster Springs -- the Mountain Park -- to Bonnie and Jim," says Angie Cowger, member of Addison/Webster Springs Main Street and an owner of Custard Stand Food Products. "Our town is not only beautiful but a wonderful place to raise a family and a great way to enjoy a simpler pace."The Parrs had a traditional country breakfast at Vickie's, enjoyed a hot dog and a milk shake at The Custard Stand for lunch and finished up with dinner at the Addison Cafe. During the day, they crossed a swinging bridge, went four-wheelin' up Back Fork, toured Custard Stand Food Products production facility and visited Carpenter 5&10, Addison Visitors Center, Make-It-Personal Boutique, Catholic Charities Resale Shop and the all-volunteer Fire Department. They met with town dignitaries at the Main Street Office to sample some West Virginia food products and visited with World Champion Woodchopper Arden Cogar, who lives in Addison/Webster Springs. (Click here for photos of the visit.)In Los Angeles on July 15, the winning team of the Best of the RoadRally will be crowned and awarded a $10,000 prize based on creativity, number of destinations met and quality of category descriptions. Best of the Road judges then will weigh blog posts, videos and photos submitted by the Best of the Road Rally teams to determine the winning town in each category. On July 21 at theDestination Marketing Association International (DMAI) Annual Convention in New Orleans, the winning towns will be announced. Top towns willbe highlighted on www.bestoftheroad.com and in the 2013 Rand McNally Road Atlas, as well as on USA TODAY's Travel site. The inaugural Best of the RoadRally partners include USA TODAY, Saab, Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Shell and Fleetwood RV. For more information and to follow each team's whereabouts throughout the Best of the Road contest, visit www.bestoftheroad.com and http://travel.usatoday.com. # # # About Addison/Webster Springs: The town is in Webster County, WV, and is the county seat. Although it was incorporated as Addison in 1892, it is more frequently referred to as Webster Springs, the name of the town's post office. The population was 808 at the 2000 census. The town hosts the annual Webster County Woodchopping Festival, a weekend-long competition in which lumberjacks from all over the world compete. It is home to Custard Stand Food Products. About the Best of the Road®: Rand McNally has earned the reputation as a trusted source in maps, directions and travel content with its best-selling Road Atlas and annual Best of the Road online guide. Its celebration of the Great American Road Trip has given way to an online guide of the Best of the Road and features top attractions in more than 20 categories -- from the Best Beach to the Best BBQ. This year, in collaboration with USA TODAY, Rand McNally is revving up for an all-new the Best of the Road search with content created by travelers online and published in the 2013 Rand McNally Road Atlas. For more information about the Best of the Road, visit www.bestoftheroad.com.
About Rand McNally: Rand McNally is the most trusted source for maps, directions, and travel content. Rand McNally's products and services include interactive travel referral service, Tripology; IntelliRoute® truck routing software and GPS devices; and the leading geography-based educational resources for the classroom. The 88th edition of America's No. 1 Road Atlas by Rand McNally will be available shortly and it includes digital TAGs which connect smartphone users to special mobile web pages. Consumers, businesses, truckers, and educators depend upon Rand McNally to help navigate today's world. www.randmcnally.comAbout USA TODAY - USA TODAY is a multi-platform news and information media company. Founded in 1982, USA TODAY's mission is to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. Today, through its newspaper, website and mobile platforms, USA TODAY connects readers and engages the national conversation. USA TODAY, the nation's number one newspaper in print circulation with an average of more than 1.8 million daily, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper website launched in 1995, reach a combined 5.9 million readers daily. USA TODAY is a leader in mobile applications with more than eight million downloads on mobile devices. The USA TODAY brand also includes USA TODAY Education and USA TODAY Sports Weekly. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI). |
