Cloverdale is cool

Cloverdale just might be the second coolest small town in America.

In a readers' choice poll conducted by Budget Travel magazine, Sonoma County's northernmost city came in number two among 21 nominated "Coolest Small Towns."

In the polling that ended May 9, Cloverdale got 74,390 votes, second only to Ely, Minn.

"That's a staggering number of votes," said Cloverdale Mayor Carol Russell. "It's a big deal."

She said it can translate to "untold publicity and bragging rights for the next 20 years."

But will it?

The Budget Travel editors will decide which of the nominated towns will be profiled in either the September or October edition. In the past, 10 small towns, not necessarily the top vote-getters, were featured in the magazine.

How the editors decide is a bit of a mystery.

"They are very circumspect about how they're going about the process," said Cloverdale Chamber of Commerce President Carla Howell. "They aren't going to tell you how it happens."

Several calls to the magazine's representatives were not returned.

Howell said that last year, of the top ten reader's choice winners, only one was profiled — Rockland, Maine.

"I don't think you can brag you made it into the top 10 until the magazine comes out," Howell said.

Nevertheless, Cloverdale officials are thrilled to be in the same company, as well as outpolling nominated "cool" communities like Ojai, Sisters, Ore., Red Lodge, Mont., Sitka, Alaska, and Cooperstown. N.Y.

The magazine described Cloverdale as a "quiet wine town along the Russian River flanked to the north by an unspoiled wilderness of redwood forests and to the south by orderly rows of vineyards."

Cloverdale officials, like some in other towns, admit they did their best to stuff the ballot box, launching "Operation Coolest."

They hung up banners, including a couple along Highway 101, asking people to vote for Cloverdale. The campaign extended to Facebook and other social media.

Some Cloverdale residents created a website to make it easier to link to the Budget Travel site and vote.

People could also vote more than once, although they discovered voting was limited to once every five hours.

The contest was open for several months.

The Sonoma County Tourism Bureau also helped get its members and associates to vote.

Russell said the campaign was broadened after it became clear it was "not just about Cloverdale. It was about northern Sonoma County and Sonoma County in general. Not only is Cloverdale the coolest small town, but our part of the world - look what's around us."

With that in mind Cloverdale boosters posted photos and videos not only of people gobbling hamburgers at Pick's Drive-In on Cloverdale Boulevard, but people enjoying the Russian River, the coast, or taking a mudbath in Calistoga.

But still, all of that was hard to compete with the winning community, Ely, Minn., which is located in the world-famous, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

They had a camera posted in a bear's den near town, where people could check out the baby cubs.

On the same page was a button to vote for Ely as the coolest small town.

Ely jumped ahead and never faltered, collecting the most votes, with 118,394.