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City passes 'Go' on new Monopoly board June 23rd, 2010:
City passes 'Go' on new monopoly board
Owning a piece of Windsor just became a whole lot more expensive after the city was named Monday as one of the hottest properties on the new Monopoly Canada Edition game board.
The noise was deafening when more than 400 students in the gym at Our Lady of Perpetual Help elementary school erupted in roars as Windsor's name was called out during a live webcast from Ottawa.
"I was a little nervous - they were getting down to the final names," said Grade 5 student Cody Tersigni.
Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, St. John's, Montreal, Quebec City - the places kept coming and only six spots remained on the board when Windsor was finally named as the new occupant of the best of three yellow properties, known to most North American Monopoly players as Marvin Gardens.
"This is awesome, this is absolutely amazing," said Mayor Eddie Francis, who attended Our Lady for the announcement.
The mayor's office organized and pushed hard for Windsorites and Windsor lovers to show their civic pride and vote for their city in a recent Hasbro contest.
About 4,500 fans had registered on a Vote For Windsor Facebook page to help in a competition that saw 65 shortlisted cities vying for 20 spots on the Canadian board (two additional "wild card" openings were reserved for smaller municipalities).
Hasbro said more than one million ballots were cast but would not reveal the votes per city.
The new board, coinciding with the popular board game's 75th anniversary, will be on local store shelves Monday in time for Canada Day.
"To the entire community, thank you for answering the call . we're now on the board," said Francis.
It cost Windsor nothing to get in the game, but players will have to fork out $2.8 million to buy the board property (prices range from a low of $600,000 for Banff to $4 million for - wait for it - Chatham- Kent, which led the Internet voting.
The kids at Our Lady of Perpetual Help certainly sensed the importance of getting onboard.
"Everybody who plays it will see our town," said Tersigni.
"Windsor's usually seen in a negative light - this is great," said Grade 8 student Willow Eldon.
"It's awesome, Windsor's in need of all this," said fellow Grade 8 student Cody Rusan.
"We've got a brilliant hockey team, we've got brilliant people - it's a heckuva city," he added.
The mayor congratulated Chatham-Kent for earning the board's top spot (the dark blue Boardwalk in the regular game), as well as Sarnia for ranking fourth (normally known as North Carolina Avenue in the dark greens).
Windsor ended up between Quebec City and Edmonton.
"The most-expensive real estate . is in Southwestern Ontario," Francis said, adding he too became increasingly nervous as the board filled up with places from elsewhere in Canada.
"I didn't think we had a chance. Everybody knows Vancouver, but it's Windsor, it's small," said Grade 8 student Martin Szewczyk.
"It's pretty awesome," he added, using the word most often heard at Tuesday's official unveiling by Hasbro.
In order to vote during the contest period, participants had to log in and then register before following several prompts to their favourite city. Website visitors could track the evolving order of the top 20 picks, but those rankings were blacked out during the last week of polling.
At one point, as Windsor's Monopoly future appeared in doubt, Francis made an overseas appeal to drum up crucial votes while on a British trade mission.
The city also used social media tools to generate Internet buzz for Windsor's Monopoly mission, with votes coming in from as far away as Australia and Europe.
Over the course of the contest, "so much excitement built up in the community," said Francis.
TOP CITIES
The following 22 cities earned spots on the Monopoly Canada, listed from highest-coloured spaces to lowest rent properties:
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DARK BLUE: Chatham-Kent, Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que.
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GREEN: Calgary, Sarnia, Edmonton
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YELLOW: Windsor, Quebec City, Trois-Rivieres, Que.
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RED: Medicine Hat, Alta., Gatineau, Que., Shawinigan, Que.
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ORANGE: Kawartha Lakes, Ont., Chilliwack, B.C., Montreal
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MAGENTA: Kelowna, B.C., North Bay, Ont., St. John's, N.L.
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LIGHT BLUE: Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver
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BROWN: Beauceville, Que., Banff, Alta.
Article Credit:
DOUG SCHMIDT
The Windsor Star
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