Editor’s note

It’s time for our annual campaign to get readers to tell us the good stuff about this town – the fun, the unusual, the local, the outstanding, the Best of Springfi eld 2013. Let the voting begin. This year there are three ways to vote. First, the website – go to illinoistimes.com and click on the BOS banner at the top of the page. New this year is the Best of Springfi eld app you can download free from iTunes. We’re eager to see how many of you try it. Last – and our least favorite, because we have to count them by hand – is the paper ballot, beginning on page 21. We have about 40 more categories than last year and we’ve eliminated some tired old ones. Voting is open from now till 5 p.m. Sept. 30. After that we’ll get to work writing up the results for a bigger and better than ever Best of Springfi eld edition to be published Oct. 31. Now get to work to give your favorites a Happy Halloween. –Fletcher Farrar, editor and publisher