Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
MainStreetContest
"We are crazy outliner," said Jessiann Loomis.
The odds were not in St. John’s favor.
When St. John entered the America’s Main Streets contest in March to vie for a $25,000 grand prize for its main street (Front Street), it was a month behind the rest of the competition, with the voting having started in February. With just a few weeks left in the competition, St. John was up against 241 other communities and was one of the smallest on the list.
“You look at the math, you look at the populous, and you think there’s no way,” said Amanda Webb, one of the spear headers behind getting St. John into the competition.
Not only was the town competing against 241 other communities, but some of the communities included large names such as a district in Washington, D.C.
Jessiann Loomis, another leader behind the contest, said she was hoping St. John’s dedicated community, both near and far, would be enough to push the town into the top 25 and the second round of voting.
Notice was received Friday that St. John made it.
“We were shocked. Somehow we managed to do it,” said Loomis. “We made it! We are very, very excited.”
Webb said it all had to do with the people voting.
“When you look at the love and the pride, it comes together,” she said.
St. John now joins 24 other communities across the U.S. to compete for the grand prize. The second round of voting, which opened Monday, continues until May 28. The top 10 vote getters in this round will move on to the final phase, which is when the communities are judged by a committee, with that committee selecting the winner.
“I think we have a good shot if we can make it there,” said Loomis. “It’s impressive we’ve made it this far, and I think they’ll take that into consideration.”
Webb said the contest is now bigger than St. John. It is about spreading a message that rural America can do big things.
“We’re now getting people to vote for us so that we can prove that small towns can do amazing things,” she said. “We want to prove to all of the U.S. that small towns do matter.”
Loomis said she has done research to learn the populations of the other 24 communities in the quarterfinals.
“They’re all pretty much bigger than us,” she said.
“Most of the other towns are very urban,” said Webb.
St. John has a population of 545.
The next smallest community has a population four times that of St. John’s.
“And then it goes up from there,” said Loomis. “There are six or so in the four-digit range. All the rest are 10,000 and above.”
St. John is also the only community in the contest on the west coast. Webb created a map depicting where each of the top 25 communities are located. Most of the dots can be found on the east coast, with some in the central United States.
“We are a crazy outlier,” said Loomis. “There’s nothing on the west side of the country on that map but us.”
“We need the west to vote for us,” said Webb.
Webb noted it was not just people physically in St. John voting in the first round. She knew of people all across Whitman County voting, plus many more who have moved away but still maintain connections.
“Even though we don’t have the populous, we have a greater connection than some of the other main streets,” she said. “We’re more personable.”
More than 156,000 votes were cast for all of the 242 nominated communities in the contest. The breakdown of votes was not revealed, so it is not known where St. John stands in the top 25.
“We want to know,” Loomis commented. “It’d be really interesting to see.”
Webb also said it would be fun to know where St. John landed.
“I don’t know if we ever would get that information released,” she said. “It’s super exciting either way, whether we were number one or number 25.”
Loomis and Webb know it is going to take continued support for St. John to be able to earn more votes than the other communities.
“Everybody’s support is really crucial and is what drove us to the top 25,” she said. “This is all really based on how many people you have in your community who are committed.”
“I would implore anyone who believes in small towns to vote,” said Webb. “A vote for St. John is a vote for rural America.”
Social media has been a big factor in spreading the message about the contest, said Loomis.
“Facebook is such an awesome tool for something like this,” she said. “That’s a really great thing. We’ve gotten so many shares.”
Webb also noted that several sprint boat fans voted.
“We implored all of our race fans to vote,” she said. “We welcome in people from the entire county and the entire northwest. We absolutely love visitors to all of our events.”
Voting is completed online, and St. John had the same link it had in the first round of the contest.
“It’s the same link, so the link my sister (Valerie Brewer) saved on everyone’s phones still works,” said Loomis. “It’s nice to see how easy they make it.”
One vote per IP address is allowed per 24 hours. That could mean that the same person could actually cast multiple votes per day. One trick is to vote on a cell phone connected to wifi and then turn off the wifi and vote again over data. Both votes count. Voting can also be done on a computer, laptop or any device that connects to the Internet.
Webb said she votes from every Internet connection possible.
“Any network – at home, at work, if your work has two connections, libraries, at a restaurant,” she listed. “It’s really simple. It’s just a click of a button. They don’t ask for any of your information. You just vote.”
The top 10 semifinalists will be notified at the end of May, and winner of the contest will be announced on June 5.
In addition to the $25,000 grand prize, the winner will receive a certificate for $1,000 worth of STIHL equipment, a full one-year SnapRetail subscription (valued at $1,300) that includes e-mail, marketing, social media scheduling a new website, a $500 shopping spree to Do it Best Corp., a $500 shopping spree to PPG Pittsburgh Paints, public relations and social media recognition, small business social media promotion and a special plaque to display.
Webb said it is easy to plan for St. John to win the grand prize.
“The group of us that are really at the core of this – Jessiann, Valerie Brewer, myself and my husband – we are visionaries,” she said. “We see the big picture, and we don’t have a hard time visualizing what we would do with the $25,000. The ideas are already rolling.”
She also noted several business owners have been getting excited at the prospects.
“Even if we don’t win, the ideas are rolling. That whole idea process is fantastic,” said Webb. “The pride that is oozing out of the St. John people to be in the top 25 is a fantastic energy.”
The town continues to promote the contest through its Facebook page each day to remind people to vote. To vote for St. John, go to America’s Main Street website:
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