Paul Scott comment: Here's a great a town slogan!

Posted: Mon, Sep 5, 2011 10:13 PM

I'm always amused by people who contact decorahnews.com and tells us, "You should make the city/county/school district/hospital/someone else do this for us."

I'm flattered that people have such a high opinion of our influence, but the fact is that a lot of the things we have pushed for have never come about.

Take, for instance, last year's campaign to come up with a town slogan for Decorah. This was a carryover from the 2009 visit of tourism expert Roger Brooks, who said most communities settle for general slogans that end up doing nothing to distinguish their town from dozens of other "friendly communities."

We got a lot of suggestions from Decorah residents. What we didn't get was any progress.

But now I have come up with what I think is the best possible slogan, so let's renew this discussion. First, here's the slogan:

DECORAH.
Bluffs. Bikes. Bald Eagles.

Here's why I think this is a good slogan:

1) It has alliteration--the repetition of the letter "b" in the three words.
2) It is specific, not general. It doesn't talk about "Home of Friendly People" or "Vacation Wonderland," it talks about scenery, outdoor recreation and sightseeing attractions.
3) While there are plenty of other attractions in the Decorah area, it names the top three attractions.
4) It would reinforce the images that outsiders already have of Decorah--"Oh, it's that hilly town with the bald eagle nest near the bike trail."

So if you like this idea, let's start talking it up and lobby to use this slogan to tell the rest of the world about the many good things we have going on in our community.