Jackson Hole, Wyo.-The people and places included in this issue are the verybest of Jackson Hole . . . at least for now. Next year, you might vote for completely different “winners”in completely different categories. Our editorial picks might be the result of a thoughtful and deliberate consensus, rather than the ephemeral musings ofindividual contributors. Who knows!

Clearly, the process is not perfect – we’ve done our bestto scold and undo ballot stuffers – however, we think that the point of a BestOf issue is less to give a reading of local faves than to remember and recognize the many people who make Jackson “unique,” the bars where we have made mistakes, the musicians who have described the mood, the restaurants where wemeet friends and escape bars, the shops we frequent for beta as well as gearand the people we write home about, even the ones we’d like to set straight –in short, a Best Of issue is a survey of the social-political atmosphere of our town, a look at who we are, and at the very least, a Best Of is fun to thumb through, if only to ridicule other people’s taste.

On that point, we definitely have our own favorites, and some of us think that the youth of Jackson Hole had much higher voter-turnout (must be Obama’s influence), but we are collectively satisfied that in many cases Jackson demonstrated its good taste for all things (truly) local.

So thanks for participating in our inaugural Best Ofissue. Enjoy!