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A parade of Bellevue citizens–mascots, band members, elected officials and regular citizens–flooded City Hall to celebrate Bellevue’s triumphant victory over the musical note B flat in “Late Night” with Seth Meyers’ very public and silly Tournament of Things.
On the evening of Apr. 7, Bellevue Mayor Rita Sanders greeted the show host Seth Meyers and received welcome news of Bellevue’s victory over B flat.
“So what’s really neat to see, even though this is a meaningless, faux competition, is to watch the citizens pull together. And we do that on a daily basis in a lot of areas and we don’t always see that,” Sanders said of the tournament.
The widely publicized Tournament of Things has been a running joke at “Late Night with Seth Meyers” for weeks now, a play on the popular March Madness tournament brackets.
Just under a week ago, Bellevue squared off against mason jars, competing to gain the most online votes and progress through the 64 “thing” bracket.
Now, in light of the nationwide victory, Bellevue will honor “Late Night.”
“The week of April 6th is ‘Late Night With Seth Meyers’ Week in Bellevue,” City Council Member Carol Blood said. “B&B Classic Dogs named a hot dog after the show for this month and the dog park this week has been renamed after [Meyers’] dog Frisbee, his childhood dog who passed away.”
Blood did much of the prep work in the weeks leading up to the big moment, ensuring that Bellevue, its police force, band members, baton twirlers, mascots, public officials and citizens would be featured on national television.
“It’s a really good example if you put a little effort into something and you’re brave this is the payoff,” Blood said.
Bellevue Television Coordinator Phil Davidson felt the event was a powerful way to get people more involved with the city.
“That’s part of this contest, getting people involved in the community and people that probably wouldn’t come down to City Hall,” Davidson said.
Sanders hopes the triumph will earn Bellevue more national recognition as it fades out of the limelight.
“We all know that Bellevue is a great place to work, and live, and play,” Sanders said. “But now the citizens of the rest of the country will say, ‘Hey, where is that Bellevue, Nebraska?'”
Grant Harrison
Editor-in-Chief
