What a monster!

Each spring, New Times staffers start getting jittery, anticipating the busiest, most challenging week on our calendar: The annual New Times Best of SLO County readers poll. It’s like a big Baby Huey, or scaly Godzilla, that drops out of the sky and onto our laps, unruly and untidy but kinda cute in a way. It’s our job to tidy things up–count ballots, contact winners, gather photos and information, solicit ads, and somehow pull this monster together.

There are countless hardworking individuals to thank for their efforts, including the sales staff, who go the extra mile to service advertisers; the production crew that keeps things hopping and moving along; our receptionist Michael Antonette. What a godsend!

No editor should ever be without the tenacious work ethic and steady-as-she-goes focus of copy editors such as Kat DeBakker. She rocks! Without her, this issue wouldn’t have happened. Thanks also to Heather Walter, probably the sweetest designer to be found anywhere.

Also, none of the stories you’ll read inside would have happened without the help of writers Bill Beeson, Kathy Marcks Hardesty, Brent Van der Weide, and Shawna Galassi. Thank you, thank you!

And special thanks to Kirsten Blake and Christy Arnoldussen for their patience and directness. Christopher Gardner isn’t really a photographer. He’s an artist, and one of the hardest working in the biz. Thanks to Bruce Brown of the Computer Café for the loan of Christopher’s companion for this issue, Godzilla.

Finally, thanks to those who made this issue of the Best of SLO County a smooth ride: proofreaders Jill Davies and Genevieve Fussell; Britt Nelson, layout; Alex Zuniga, art direction; Dana Rudebeck, ad production; and Bob Rucker, our general manager who stirs the pot, and Publisher Steve Moss, who knows this monster better than anyone..

Stacey Warde
Associate Editor