Voting ends Sunday: St. John awaits final tally in America's Main Street contest

Standing in line at the Cook Shack during St. John's Stock Show last month, St. John residents Amanda Webb, Jessiann Loomis and Valerie Brewer were anxiously awaiting the food they can only get once a year, but they also kept checking their emails.

They were waiting for the message from Independent We Stand to tell them if St. John had made it into the top 25 of America's Main Street contest.

When Loomis checked her email and a look of shock came over her, Webb could not believe it.

“I said, 'You're messing with me!'” Webb recalled.

“Val, Jessiann and I just started screaming.

The whole Cook Shack and everyone in line started clapping.

It was perfect.” St. John made it to the semi-final round of voting in the contest after the first round of voting, which initially had 242 nominated main streets.

Now, the final round of voting is winding down.

“Fingers crossed!” said Webb.

Voting is open through Sunday, May 28.

With the final days of voting here, Webb said she hopes people can help push St. John to the top 10.

Just as with the first round of voting, she has no idea where St. John stands in the vote compared to the other 24 communities.

“It's hard when you're not getting updates,” she said.

“It's all hope and visualization.” There is one number they do know on where St. John stands: it is the smallest community remaining in the contest.

St. John has a population of 545, and the next smallest community in the contest has a population four times that of St. John's.

“And then it goes up from there,” Loomis told the Gazette last month.

“There are six or so in the four-digit range.

All the rest are 10,000 and above.” “We're up against all these huge, urban areas,” said Webb.

“It's totally nerve wracking not knowing where we stand.” Without the population of the other communities, Webb, Loomis, Brewer and others have been reaching out to the community, county and family and friends far and wide.

“Social media has been huge for this.

Everyone's support is huge,” said Webb.

“The map has been huge for people to realize this is so much bigger than St. John.

This is the west.” Webb made a map when she learned of St. John's successful bid to get into the top 25.

She included the other 24 communities that had made it, too.

Most of the dots can be found on the east coast, with some in the central United States.

And then there is St. John.

“We are a crazy outlier,” Loomis said last month.

“There's nothing on the west side of the country on that map but us.” Despite the odds and not knowing where St. John stands in the contest, Webb said she is confident.

“I'm super excited for that top 10 email.

It's going to happen,” she said.

Part of the grand prize is for the Independent We Stand contest owners to come to the winning community to host a Fourth of July party.

At that party, the winning community will announce what it will do with the prize money.

“Can't you just see it? I can see it.

I'm talking as if it's already happening,” said Webb.

“We're going to have a killer Fourth of July party.” When the top 10 finalists are announced, there will be no more voting.

At that point, the top 10 are looked at by a committee which will choose the grand prize winner.

“They just have to fall in love with St. John,” Webb declared confidently.

Webb also said she is proud of the results of this contest, no matter what happens.

St. John has been an underdog from the beginning, having entered the contest one month after it already began and being one of the smallest communities of the 242.

“People want to be a part of something bigger than them,” she said.

“When we work together, we all succeed.” The grand prize winner of the contest will receive $25,000 for its main street – Front Street in St. John – as well as $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 the grand prize will mean a lot to St. John.

“This will help us to keep going and carry on our traditions and to thrive,” she said.

“It would mean so much to us.” There is still time to get votes in before Sunday.

The contest will close at 11:59 p.m.

Sunday, and one vote per IP address is allowed every 24 hours.

That could mean the same person could actually cast multiple votes per day.

Webb said she has been using every wifi network available to her to vote, including home, work, libraries and restaurants.

Smartphones can also cast votes through a wifi connection and data connection, with both votes counting in the same 24-hour period.

Voting can be done on a desktop computer, laptop, mobile phone or any device that connects to the internet.

The winner will be announced June 5.

To vote for St. John, go to America's Main Street website: http://www.mainstreetcontest.com/profile.php?id=239