From Dwayne Yancey, senior editor for new channels:

What’s the best new thing in the New River Valley?

Or the best place to meet people in Salem?

What about the best restaurant to take the kids in southwest Roanoke County?

Or the best sporting moment in Botetourt County in the past year?

You tell us!

Voting has opened in our annual “Best Of” reader polls in four of our community news editions: The Burgs in the New River Valley, The Botetourt View, So Salem and SWoCo (in southwest Roanoke County.)

You can find the ballots here:

New River Valley

Botetourt

Salem

Southwest Roanoke County

The voting is open through midnight on March 10. We’ll publish the results online and in the print editions of The Botetourt View, So Salem and SWoCo on April 19, and in The Burgs on May 12.

Each one has categories for restaurants, businesses and just general community interest — what’s the best “hidden jewel” in each locality, for instance, is one new category we’ve added.  Don’t see a category for your favorite thing? All of them have the open-ended “best thing not on this list.”

This is the fifth year we’ve had the reader polls in Botetourt, Salem and southwest Roanoke County, and the eighth year in New River. Over that time, we’ve seen exponential increases in voting. In the past five years, the votes have quintupled in New River, and increased by elevenfold and twelvefold in the other zones. Want to promote votes for your business or organization? This year, we have free promotional materials you can download here: roanoke.com/bestof.

Happy voting!