Best of Our Valley 2011

Yes, this issue of Arizona Foothills Magazine is different. This issue is dedicated to our Second Annual Best of Our Valley winners.
Best of Our Valley is an annual contest that we kick off each and every Oct. 1. We ask people to submit nominations for the best people, places and things in our Valley and, for 60 days on AZFoothills.com, the public can vote one time per computer per day for their faves. Winning takes a lot of organization, plenty of postings on Facebook and Twitter and, of course, a really good reputation in the Valley. This year, we had so many great entries. Every place and person that was in the contest are winners and the ones with the most votes are featured in our pages, with the winner with the highest number of overall votes featured on our cover. It can be you next year!
Notice the different cover? You most likely have heard him on the radio. Yes, that is Johnjay Van Es, co-host of Johnjay and Rich in the Morning on 104.7 KISS FM. He looks really good between two models at The Ritz-Carlton, Phoenix. LOL! He had the most votes in the Top Twitterer category and in the entire contest. He crushed it, and we know why. (Follow this guy @JohnjayVanEs.) You will learn quickly why he is so popular; he has many roles in life like we all do and he shares them with you on Twitter. He is a great friend, husband and, best of all, a killer dad. You get laughs from him and, most of all, you get inside the life of a good guy who loves his family, lives in the Valley and whose biggest drama is his dog, Lego, digging up his yard.
Now Johnjay was not the only winner. On March 30 at the Wrigley Mansion, we are celebrating all the winners at the Second Annual Best of Our Valley party. All winners will get the opportunity to mingle with other winners and share their successes. We will be giving away tickets to the big event under Contests at AZFoothills.com or follow us on Twitter @AZFoothillsMag or @MichaelSDee for a chance to win. Every winner will have their own page on AZFoothills.com and will be able to share the links with friends.
We are taking nominations now at AZFoothills.com for next year’s contest under the Best of AZ tab. We would like to listen to your ideas, and thank everyone for their suggestions. And yes, yes and yes we can add new categories—that is what makes Best of Our Valley so fun.
Have as much fun with this issue as we did. Thanks and congratulations to all the winners.

See you at the party!
Michael S. Dee  President and Publisher