Readers’ Choice Winners 2023
It's time to see the winners.
Readers voted over 70,000 times for businesses in Litchfield, Berkshires, Dutchess, and Columbia counties. The results are not only enlightening; they are also a guide to everything regional. That includes everything from where to eat, drink and shop; who to hire for wedding, home and financial services, to which organizations to consider supporting or to taking a class from. Thank you to everyone who participated — readers and nominees alike — and a big RI hug to all the winners.
Click an image below for results in each category.
The Results Are IN
Readers’ Choice Winners 2023
The Rural Intelligence Readers’ Choice Awards are really on the map now. The revved-up nominations and voting numbers in this, our third year, prove that our readers have embraced the concept of spotlighting their favorite businesses, organizations and people in the RI region.
Readers voted over 70,000 times for businesses in Litchfield, Berkshires, Dutchess, and Columbia counties.
While the results are always enlightening, they are also they are also a guide to regional preferences. That includes everything from where to eat, drink and shop; who to hire for wedding, home and financial services, to which organizations to consider supporting or to taking a class from. Thank you to everyone who participated — readers and nominees alike — and a big RI hug to all the winners.
All told, 3,090 businesses in Litchfield, Berkshires, Dutchess, and Columbia counties were entered into Readers' Choice this year. Some of those businesses and organizations were new, many repeats — just the thing we like to see, because the results provide all of us with a guide to everything regional. That includes where to eat, drink and shop; who to hire for wedding, home and financial services; educational opportunities; which organizations to consider supporting.
Nominations in some of the categories were almost a given; there are destinations that are just that popular. In the Art Museum category, first place goes to The Clark Art Institute, followed by MASS MoCA and the Norman Rockwell Museum. Berkshire Mountain Bakery is a repeat winner in the Bakery (Savory) category, followed this year by Bakin’ Bakery and The Store at Five Corners. Ward’s Nursery has been voted favorite garden center for three years running; ditto Carr Hardware. And who could be surprised that Joe Donahue would get the most votes as favorite Radio Personality in the region?
Some of the new names to Readers’ Choice now on our radar include Hills Physical Therapy in Sports, Caroline Kinsolving, yoga instructor, Stonybrook Golf & Clubhouse Provisions, Kate Baldwin Designs, and the White Memorial Conservation Center as THE place to paddle, cross country ski and snowshoe. All of them happen to be located in the Litchfield Hills!
As we’ve done every year, we added categories and that means we get to welcome, among others, Bartlett’s Orchard for Cider Donuts, The Sheep and Wool Festival as the preferred Annual Event, Berkshire Humane Society in Animal Welfare, and in the category of Portrait Photographer, Lindsey Victoria Photography took first place.
It’s been fun for us to see the Rural Intelligence Readers’ Choice Awards become an established tradition by its third year. A hearty round of applause goes out to our readers for nominating and voting, and to the many nominees and winners. Now, let’s all go out and do our best to support our local favorites.