Chelsey Kovar is the director of the Best of Parma effort, and said that this, their second outing, was nearly twice as large as last year's competition, with approximately 7,000 votes cast. For the first time, participants were not required to vote in every category, which meant some categories stood out.
Two of the most popular categories were Best Salon and Best Pizza. Antonio's won the latter, but the former came down to a hair. Always in Style Hair Salon beat Illusions Unlimited, which won last year, by a single vote. Competitions like this can attract a lot of attention when banner printing is used to create decorations inside and outside a venue.
Most School Pride was a new category this year and drew a great deal of attention. This year's award went to Padua Franciscan High School. The school principal, David Stec, announced he was delighted his school had won, since the students:
“believe strongly in each other”
Tim DeGeeter, Parma's mayor, said the best thing about the competition was that it gave people a chance to discover all the good stuff in Parma. He was particularly gratified to discover that the Parma Animal Shelter, which is a partner with the city, won the Best Non-Profit category, which is new this year.