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When I saw Bodacious Bar-B-Q's sign announcing they'd won the 2009 "Best of the Upper East Side of Texas" award for Best Barbecue, I knew the January issue of County Line Magazine was out.

I dashed over to the Winnsboro Gallery where I found a copy. Mary Smith, Conrad Wolfman and I spread the tabloid on the counter and methodically checked all 50 categories in which "Best of..." awards were given.

With highlighter in hand, I marked all the winners, then checked for Winnsboro businesses that were runners-up.

The total is 14 "Best of..." designations with 16 runners-up, not counting Brookshires, which more or less wins for the whole region, not just Winnsboro, in the Gas, Grub & Groceries category. Congratulations to all the award-winning businesses, including some you'll recognize from previous annual "Best of..." lists.

Here's the list, starting with the
"Best of. . ." categories for the city itself:

1. Best Small Town Downtown - Winnsboro (again!)
2. Best Afternoon Stroll - Winnsboro (again!)
3. Best Lakeside Town - Winnsboro
4. Best Scenic Drive - Winnsboro
   shared honors with Lake Lydia,
   New York, TX, Old 135, Hwy 154,
   Hwy 279 and Tyler State Park
5. Best Barbecue - Bodacious Bar-B-Q
6. Best Chicken Fried Steak - Double C Steakhouse
7. Best Coffee - Art and Espresso
8. Best Pizza - Cibo Vino's
9. Best Salsa & Tortilla Chips - Peralta's Winnsboro
10. Best Sandwich - Brewbaker's Restaurant & Pub
11. Best Sweets - Frosting! Cake Design Studio
12. Best Tex Mex - Peralta's Winnsboro
13. Best Art Gallery - Winnsboro Art Gallery
14. Best Barber/Hair Stylist - Dana Johnson

You'll see from the list of 16 runners-up below
that Winnsboro businesses appeared more than
once in a number of categories:

1. Best Improved Small Town - Winnsboro
2. Best Breakfast - Brewbaker's Restaurant & Pub
3. Best Salsa & Tortillas - Brewbaker's Restaurant & Pub
4. Best Salad - Brewbaker's Restaurant & Pub
5. Best Restaurant - Brewbaker's Restaurant & Pub
6. Best Restaurant - Cibo Vino's 
7. Best Chef - Rick Murray at Cibo Vino's
8. Best Gas, Grub & Groceries - Outpost
9. Best Malt & Shake - Art and Espresso
10. Best Pie - Gina's Creative Cakes
11. Best Steak -Double C Steakhouse
12. Best Sweets - Winnsboro Bakery
13. Best Annual Event - Winnsboro Fine Art Market
14. Best B&B - Thee Hubbell House
15. Best Live Music Venue - Crossroads Music Company
16. Best Barber/Hair Stylist - Marty Marshall at Copper Leaf Day Spa

The awards are based on readers' votes throughout the distribution area for County Line. I counted 33 counties on the site that the magazine covers. In light of that, winning 28% of the awards is astonishing.

For all of you who supported Winnsboro by voting, thanks! Locals and visitors who support Winnsboro merchants, restaurants, B&Bs and events literally are the life of our town.

In addition, we want to send out a great big howdy and well done to Ben Wheeler, a tiny town that is reinventing itself in true Upper East Side style. Congratulations on the great showing! Edom also maintains a great profile as well. Way to go.

Our good friends at the Quitman Community Theatre - Bob and Becky Hibbard and the troupe that entertains us several times each year - is the Best Small Theatre Company for 2009. In addition, two of their actors - Jeff Hurley and Brett Murphy - walked off with the Best Theatre Actor/Actress award for their performance as the mismatched duo, Oscar and Felix, in the QCT's rendition of The Odd Couple. QTC's roots are in Winnsboro, so we're very proud of their success at the Carroll Greene Civic Center.

This year, we have built a strong bond with both Lake Fork and Holly Lake Ranch, with formal agreements to cross-promote each other's communities and businesses. We were delighted to see Lake Fork Marina & Motel, near Alba, was named the Best Hotel/Motel in 2009. In addition, they were runners-up for Best RV Park. Congratulations to Dana and Ken Donahue, who own and operate the c0mplex on the shore of Lake Fork.

Hi again - when I found out about the open invitation for a free Christmas dinner at Tinney Chapel, I asked Joe Dan Boyd to write a guest blog. As always, he captures the essence of the event perfectly. Anita

If you are alone on this Christmas Day, December 25, perhaps your family is out of town, or for whatever reason, you have nowhere else to go for a home-cooked meal and old-time friendly fellowship, please drive two miles south of Winnsboro on FM 312, then turn east on County Road 4620 for one-fourth mile, to Tinney Chapel—the quintessential country church, twice voted best in rural ministry by the North Texas Methodist Conference.

There, at 449 CR 4620, from 2 pm to 4 pm, expect a full-course meal from the ladies of Tinney Chapel, followed by the kind of coffee and conversation that reminds us all of flaming fireplaces, red-nosed reindeer, lamps in windows, hosannas in the highest, memories in a manger scene and ultimately the Reason for the Season.

For most of us, Christmas is one of the two most memorable meals of the year, ranking right up there with Thanksgiving turkey and crimson cranberries.

My Grandma Tinney, who helped raise me after I was orphaned at a young age, was no society type hostess, but she loved people, and always expected both family and friends to fill her rambling farmhouse for each year’s Big Dinner on Christmas Day. No invitation required: Just show up for the open latch, the larder, the ladle, the lamb and, of course, the love!

My Grandma Tinney introduced me to Tinney Chapel as an infant, and if she were still alive, and could be with us these days, she’d still want a crowd: our church’s 8,000-sq. ft. family life center would strain at the seams! I’d be grateful if all of you could have known her and the richness of having “company all over”—people drawn together by a single warm personality.

The next best thing might be today’s Tinney Chapel Folks, all of whom are steeped in the same rural roots and agrarian appreciation that made Grandma Tinney so special. Visitors to our church always say they have never been made to feel more at home than here at this 109-year-old monument to frontier Texas hospitality.

Please remember to be our guest on Christmas Day, December 25, for an unforgettable experience--and absolutely free!

Get all the details here.