40u40: Counting to 38

Erika Sidor The 2017 40 Under Forty winners

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This is the final in a series of 11 stories describing the photos behind this year's 40 Under Forty awards,where rather than shooting all the images in one location, WBJ took the winners to 11 properties around Worcester, showcasing the new developments of a city on the rise. Check out the parts: Burns Bridge, public murals, deadhorse hill, The Edge at Union Station, Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center, The Grid District, Wormtown Brewery, Crompton Collective, Mercantile Center, Creative Hub Worcester.

Which two are we missing?

For the Group of 40 photo this year, we asked all the winners to park at The Edge at Union Station – where we were having the winners cocktails reception – and walk over to Union Station.

After it appeared most everyone had straggled over in ones and twos, we kept coming up short in the count. It appeared only 38 winners had shown up.

So, we took everyone outside to jump onto the railroad tracks (the third time we broke the law over the course of the 40 Under Forty photo shoots) and I pulled out the list of winners to find out who we were missing.

Two minutes later, I discovered I can't count or pronounce people’s names correctly. All 40 had shown up.

After that ordeal, it was just a matter of having the winners stare into the sun for 10 minutes – in their finest clothes in July afternoon heat – while Erika Sidor took photos and I shot a short video.

Awhile later, one of the winners pointed out the Class of 2016 had it much easier – hanging out on a stairway inside the Ecotarium.

That may have been true, but what would have been the fun in that?

Brad Kane, editor