7 wonders final votes tallied

by Bobby Blair

The 7 Wonders Blue Ribbon Panel consisting of 38 town notables have all returned their ballots and the final tally is in. The panel whittled down the 52 nominations residents had sent in over the past 2 months to a manageable 15 nominations. Town residents will be able to vote live on HNN through an interactive ballot for the final 7 Wonders---a one time, 7 votes per person. Voters may also e-mail me at Kinvara57@hotmail.com with their choices for the final 7 Holliston Wonders.

If there was any surprise during contest, it would have to be that St. Mary’s Church was never nominated. I also received many notes from those on the Blue Ribbon Panel about how difficult it was in making their choices. “This was harder than I thought it would be,” one panel member wrote. Of the 52 nominations there were four nominations that received zero (0) votes, four with two (2) votes, one with three (3) and so forth. The highest vote getter received a total of 34 of the 38 panel’s votes, but since we don’t wish to influence the final vote that nomination will be kept secret.

We at HNN hope the contest to date has provided those relatively new to town with an added dimension of town history. I was equally surprised with a few lifelong residents who were unaware of several of the nominations. The contest has also spurred several additional ideas such as a 7 Wonders Bus Tour, and a Book listing the 52 nominations. The 7 Wonders Contest was also a first for HNN, when we teamed up with the folks at Holliston’s Cable Access, mainly the Sticky Beakin team of Carl Damigella and Roger Gandini to cover your nominations in a taped media. Our thanks to the behind the scenes folks at Cable 8, Dennis Bergeron, Lisa Hedrick, Herb Krauss and the many studio camera people. Also thanks to Town Historian Joanne Hulbert.

The Blue Ribbons final 15 nomination semi-finalists are as follows in no particular order:
Historical Society (Asa Whiting) House and Barn, Lake Winthrop, Civil War Monument at Town Hall, Rosary at Fatima Shrine, Jasper’s Rock, Goodwill Shoe (aka Water Street Mill), Highland Street Tunnel, Bullard Street Cow Tunnel, Casey at the Bat, Littlefield Tavern, Fiske’s Store, Town Hall, Arch Street Bridge, Woodland Street Rail Trestle, and Balancing Rock.

Happy voting!