Each wedding anniversary is different. The first is shiny and new. The 25th is exhilarating and stirring, as you've made it through many obstacles together, and may finally get the kids out of the house. The 50th is thrilling, but in a familiar and comfortable sort of way. If you've made it 75 years, you might be happy just to be alive.

We have an anniversary of our own around here. For five years now we've been getting all of our readers together and letting them battle it out for their favorites in Dining & Food, Shopping & Services and Pastimes. It's kind of like WrestleMania, only not fake.

This year more than 3,000 News Sentinel readers voted either online or via mail in 105 categories to bestow the title of East Tennessee's Best to different businesses and entities throughout the region.

One category — Best Category We Missed — doesn't have a distinctive winner. Instead, we've listed a medley of reader suggestions for what should be included on next year's ballot.

The other 104 categories include a list of runners-up. Some categories only have one runner-up, while others have several. Only those with a significant number of votes made the list.

Because this is East Tennessee's Best's fifth anniversary, we're also recognizing those who have won their category all five years. It should be noted, however, that some categories haven't been around five years. This year, for instance, we have several new categories — Best Overall Restaurant, Best Lo-Carb Menu, Best Soul Food Restaurant, Best Neighborhood to Live in, Best Historic Treasure and Best Place to Work. Other categories, like Best Ambassador for East Tennessee and Best Place to Take Visitors, have, like Elvis, left the building.

East Tennessee's Best winners and runners-up were honored on Oct. 13 at an awards ceremony at the Knoxville Museum of Art.