Get ready to vote for a few of your favorite things — and get a chance to win $250 in the process.

Voting starts Wednesday for the first Salisbury Post People’s Choice Awards. Called Rowan County Gold, the awards will recognize the people, places and things that make Rowan a wonderful place to live, work and play.

“This is your chance to reward you favorite local businesses, restaurants and services,” says Greg Anderson, publisher of the Salisbury Post. “Let the voting begin.”

The Post plans to make Rowan County Gold awards an annual event.

Three ballots will be offered over the coming weeks, both in the paper and at salisburypost.com/vote. Here’s what each ballot is about:

• Eats, Drinks and Entertainment: You can fill in the blanks to nominate the places you believe have the best cuisine of several types, best foodie experience, best place to wet your whistle, best bites and best place to have fun. This ballot will appear in the paper Aug. 3-7, with online voting Aug. 3-14.
• Services, Faces and Places: You’ll be asked to nominate the individuals best at everything from providing dental care to teaching school. There are also categories for best health and fitness; best service, which covers home improvement; best place to get beautiful; best places for everything from customer service to assisted living; and “best smarts” — the best high school, private school, vocational school and college. This ballot will appear in the paper Aug. 17-21; online voting (for this category only) will be available Aug. 17-28.
• Shoppers Paradise: On this ballot you’ll be able to nominate places best for eats and drinks; best for home; best for inspiration; best for outdoor, recreation and sports; best for yard and garden; best wheels; best shopper’s miscellaneous; and best for threads. This ballot will appear in the paper Aug. 31-Sept. 4; with online voting Aug. 31-Sept. 11.

No purchase is required.

The ballots will be tabulated electronically.

Winners will be featured in a special section, with a short description of each of the top vote-getters. The section will appear in the Post this fall and be displayed all year on salisburypost.com.

The winners will also receive decals to display showing that they have received a 2016 Rowan County Gold Award for being the best at what they do.

There are some simple rules. Each ballot requires your name, telephone number and email address. All ballots will be part of a drawing for a $250 cash prize.

Nominees must be establishments or people in Rowan or the surrounding counties. Likewise, to cast a ballot you must be a legal resident of that area and be at least 18 years old. Post employees may not participate.

Limit one entry per person/email address during each entry period.

Please be specific with your nominations so we may clearly identify who or what is being nominated and their location.

Here are the ways to return paper ballots:

• Turn in at the Salisbury Post, 131 W. Innes St., open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday–Friday.
• Mail to Rowan County Gold, Salisbury Post, P.O. Box 4639, Salisbury, NC 28145-4639.
• Also, look in the Post for the names of participating businesses where you can drop off your ballot.