By MIKE CORN

son of the late Lorene Corn

Lend us your forks, your spoons, your cream of the crop -- at least as far as eating establishments in northwest Kansas are concerned.

Because of the disappointment that followed when the finalists in the 8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine campaign was announced, The Hays Daily News has decided to conduct its own campaign to find the best eating spots in the 20 counties that we call home.

It will be the 8 Wonders of Northwest Kansas Cuisine campaign.

And we certainly hope to do a bang-up job.

To be sure, we'll follow the same general practice as the statewide campaign, put together by the Kansas Sampler Foundation in Inman. But we'll only be taking nominations from northwest Kansas residents for northwest Kansas eating establishments.

Our campaign will cover eating establishment stretching from Russell County to the Colorado line and from Ness and Rush counties to the Nebraska border.

It's a big country, spanning nearly 20,000 square miles, and we want to know the best places.

From the list of nominations, a cadre of experts will sit down and review the list. Granted, our panel of experts most likely will be me, but I do plan to ask photo editor and frequent travel companion Steve Hausler to help.

From the nominations, we will narrow it down to a smaller set that meet predetermined criteria, such as serving the public for at least 10 years. The sites also must be iconic and pleasing customers on a regular basis.

And you'll notice I'm not calling this restaurants or cafes. There are some great drive-ins out there in northwest Kansas. Some smaller bars have a well-hidden grill tucked in back, producing food that rivals anywhere.

Bottom line, we've got some great eating establishments in northwest Kansas.

Ultimately, the finalists will be submitted to a vote of the people. Voting will be online, although we hope to make some paper ballots available.

And the best part, at least for me, is that when the final eight are selected, the staff here at The Hays Daily News is going to take up short-term residency at the anointed eating establishments and stuff ourselves.

Each of the eight finalists then will be featured in stories.

So, send us your nominations. Tell us why you think your suggestion is grand. Tell us what you know about the place, such as how long it has been in operation and who the owner might be. Give us all the details you can.

To submit nominations, drop me an e-mail to mcorn@daily news.net. If you'd prefer, drop me a short note to P.O. Box 857, Hays, KS 67601.

Nominations start immediately and will be taken through the end of the month.

Soon thereafter, we'll announce the list of finalists, and a ballot will be posted online at www.hdnews.net and published in the newspaper. Voting will continue through June.

The 20 counties covered by the HDN are Cheyenne, Decatur, Ellis, Gove, Graham, Logan, Ness, Norton, Osborne, Phillips, Rawlins, Rooks, Rush, Russell, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Trego and Wallace.