The votes are in — and boy did they come in. This year we set a new record with over 128,000 votes cast. Well done, Tahoe.

I had previously mentioned that this year we were going to be doing things a little different for the Best of Tahoe. Most notably at this point in the contest will be announcing the winners in 20 of the categories at a live show this coming Thursday, June 28, at MontBleu Resort Casino and Spa and presented by Lake Tahoe AleWorX.

We would love for the community to come out and support your local businesses for a night of fun and celebration. Nothing fancy. Just good ole fun. We know that it will be all hands on deck for the Fourth of July holiday, so let’s have one last exhale and support the folks we work shoulder to shoulder with before all hell breaks loose.

So how will it work?

While we had over 100 categories for people to vote on, we chose 20 that we feel are representative of the local Tahoe culture. Each of the top three vote getters in all 20 categories were notified that we will be announcing the winner at the live event and we’d like for them to be in attendance should they be the winner. Think Academy Awards, but without the gas-bagging speeches.

What about the other categories?

In year’s past once the voting was finalized, we would notify the winners and ask them to keep it under wraps until we published the results for the public. While this part of the contest did not change — public announcement will be July 4 — we will have the publication on hand for a sneak preview of the announcements. I will not divulge when you’ll be able to get them at the event, but let’s just say all good things come to those who wait.

What else should I know?

Well it couldn’t be a party without prizes, right? Never fear. We will have some great prizes to give away at the event, including a VIP celebrity golf package that includes two tickets to the event, two VIP passes to the Pitbull concert, dinner for two directly ahead of the concert and an offer from RAH Hair Studio to get all beautiful for the big night.

I know it may be rough to pry yourself away from reruns of “The Big Bang Theory,” but I think it’ll be worth it. A couple cocktails, maybe win a prize, maybe even stay afterward and hit a jackpot, who knows – it could shape up to be the best Thursday ever.

Cost: Free

Date: Thursday, June 28

Time: Doors open at 5:30 p.m., event starts at 6:30 p.m.

Where: MontBleu Resort Casino and Spa — 55 U.S. 50 Stateline, Nev.

Publisher Rob Galloway can be reached at rgalloway@tahoedailytribune.com or 530-542-8046.