Clay County may be small with just over 10,000 citizens. The county seat of Hayesville only has a few hundred people, but the area is certainly nice. According to the November issue of Reader’s Digest, it is one of the nicest places in America.
When the magazine announced its 2017 campaign to find “The Nicest Place in America” last Spring, 283 entries poured in. Once the nomination deadline passed, Reader’s Digest editors chose ten finalists from qualifying nominees based on the original entries, follow-up reporting and social media comments. Nominations could be a store, restaurant, club, town, campus, or other, as long as it is only one zip code. That may be why the nomination only mentioned Hayesville rather than the whole area.
Altogether, 750,000 people read one or more of the stories about niceness and many online votes were cast. To decide the winner, Reader’s Digest editors used the voting tally, the opinions of celebrity judge Brett Young and other important factors like “the embodiment of the spirit of niceness and the kindness of the people in the place.”
All ten finalists are featured in the magazine this month with Hayesville among the nine runners-up. Gallatin, Tennessee is featured as the winner, with pictures on the magazine’s cover and inside. as well as a lengthy story. The other eight towns are South Whidbey, Washington; Franklin, Nebraska; Kidcycle, Wisconsin; Rock Hall, Maryland; Providence, Rhode Island; The Doak’s House in Waterford, Ohio; Oriole Park in Baltimore and Pflugerville High School, near Austin, Texas.
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