Take a bow, you folks in Seymour. You’ve shown what community spirit and community pride are all about.

You’ve shown what can be accomplished when you get people of all ages, from all walks of life, working together. You joined hand in hand in U.S. Cellular’s Calling All Communities program and were rewarded handsomely for it.

One hundred thousand dollars.

From mid-November until mid-January, teachers, staff, students, parents and, heck, just members of the community at-large worked together in a campaign to be one of the top 10 schools in America in an online campaign that would be rewarded with money that can be used at each of the schools’ discretion.

Much of the money, school officials have said, will be used for upgrading computers and printers, but it’s likely all areas and all students will receive benefits. And not only the students enrolled now, but those who will follow after for years to come.

While Seymour High School is the official winner of the jackpot, those organizing the campaign determined early that if they won, the loot would be shared with the community’s primary, intermediate and middle schools. Without all of the schools working together for the good of the common cause, it’s entirely possible Seymour wouldn’t have won.

It’s not surprising that a segment of Sevier County show this kind pride. It happens time and time again. A recent example was the entire county pulling together to support Miss Ellie, the Fee-Hedrick canine, in her effort to win a national cutest dog competition in hopes of winning $1 million for the Humane Society. Thanks to the community’s support, she did win cutest dog of the week — and $5,000 — but, alas, fell short after becoming one of the dozen finalists.

After SHS Principal Greg Clark informed his school of the contest and what it could mean financially, the students bought into it wholeheartedly. There were pep rallies, students marching in Christmas parades and creating their own “Calling All Communities” holiday carol and ornaments. There were signs posted in local businesses, flyers stuffed in mailboxes, support enlisted at malls in Knoxville.

One high school senior told of enlisting the aid of an uncle in California, an aunt in Pennsylvania and a brother in Chattanooga. With this kind of effort, is it any wonder that the Seymour community would not be denied?

Now digest this: U.S. Cellular says well over 400,000 votes were cast and that more than 6,800 schools nationwide participated.

Imagine that — 6,800 schools wanted a piece of U.S. Cellular’s million-dollar pie, and Seymour’s community spirit was strong enough to win its share.

Take a bow, Seymour. And next year, let’s come back for an encore.