South Elgin wins battle of the 'burbs
The air at South Elgin High School was filled with music and excitement Wednesday when the village was awarded the Mix 101.9 FM Battle of the Burbs trophy.
The radio station contest pitted 16 suburbs against each other in a text and online voting campaign.
The school's mascot danced and entertained the crowd as a police and fire escort brought radio personality Melissa McGurren to the school.
The village was awarded the first-place trophy from the Eric and Kathy show after a heated texting battle ended with them in the lead.
The field was narrowed down from the original 16 suburbs that made up the Suburban Madness bracket.
Listeners voted by texting the station or voting online.
"I think this is great for the community" said Principal Jim Edwards who also said "I put it out there on my Twitter feed" asking for support.
When it came right down to it South Elgin just had more votes or texts - 80 percent of the vote to be precise. There were 137,240 votes were cast in the contest's finals, and South Elgin received an unprecedented 110,000 of those votes.
McGurren hoisted the trophy for all the students and people gathered to see as she talked with Eric and Kathy on her cellphone.
"You are not going to hear this much from an adult," Village President Steven Ward told the crowd. "but thank you for texting."