Jim Pilgrim, director of the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, may have created a new slogan for this area.

Friday, February 15, 2002

Jim Pilgrim, director of the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, may have created a new slogan for this area.

According to the January 2002 issue of the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce Update, Jim has contacted television star Marion Ross. Marion grew up in Albert Lea and gained fame as Mrs. Cunningham on the &uot;Happy Days&uot; telecasts plus other productions. She has agreed to record a radio ad to promote this region. The theme for the ad will be, &uot;Happy Days are here again in Southern Minnesota!&uot;

Richie Cunningham’s television mother will do a fine job to promote this area with the radio ad promotion. And the result could be the creation of another slogan for this city. We could just use the &uot;Happy Days are here again&uot; part.

Now, at this point, someone could detect my deliberate use of the phrase &uot;another slogan.&uot; That’s right, this city already has a slogan. In fact, I have a large badge pin which has Albert Lea’s official triangular sail boat on the water emblem and the words, &uot;For the Good Life!&uot; (This emblem was featured with the Feb. 1 column.)

Having a community or state slogan is a combination of local pride and boosterism, with maybe a touch of exaggeration.

For example, over to the east is the fine neighborly city which calls itself :Spam Town USA.&uot; Now there’s a mighty meaty municipal motto.

Our state’s vehicle license plates proclaim Minnesota to be the state of &uot;10,000 Lakes.&uot;

This reference to lakes reminds me of a short teaser quiz I found on page 103 of the December 2001 issue of the Reader’s Digest. The &uot;City of Lakes&uot; is identified as Minneapolis.

Some of the other slogans or nicknames in this quiz are: Paris, France, &uot;City of Light;&uot; Rome, Italy, &uot;Eternal City;&uot; Butte, Mont., &uot;Richest Hill on Earth;&uot; Fort Worth, Texas, &uot;Cowtown;&uot; Portland, Ore., &uot;City of Roses;&uot; Boise, Idaho, &uot;City of Trees;&uot; Fairbanks, Alaska, &uot;The Golden Heart of Alaska;&uot; Richmond, Va., &uot;Cradle of the Confederacy;&uot; and Honolulu, Hawaii, &uot;Crossroads of the Pacific.&uot;

Not long ago a short news item from the Associated Press was published in the Tribune. It’s based on the claim that Claxton, Ga., was the &uot;Fruit Cake Capital of the World.&uot;Two bakeries in this town west of Savanna produce a multitude of these seasonal incredible edibles. However, there’s a town in Texas named Corsicana which could also be a very legitimate contender for this particular slogan. Yet, Claxton has the slogan on signs and painted on the sides of a water tower.

Our state seems to have both a slogan and a nickname, &uot;Gopher State.&uot; Without half trying, I’ve also found a few other state promotional slogans. One worth noticing is for North Carolina which says it’s &uot;A better place to be.&uot; To emphasize this even more, there’s a small letter r inside a circle at the end of this statement. That means this state’s slogan or whatever is legally registered with a U.S. government office.

Another state slogan which is based on more reality is the one used by Missouri. It’s &uot;Where the Rivers Run.&uot; Those rivers are the Mississippi which forms the eastern border, and the Missouri that somewhat divides the state in the middle.

Several of the state commemorative quarters being issued by the U.S. Mint also feature slogans and/or nicknames. So far, of the 15 coins issued, are: Delaware, &uot;The First State;&uot; New Jersey, &uot;Crossroads of the Revolution;&uot; Maryland, &uot;The Old Line State;&uot; Massachusetts, &uot;The Bay State;&uot; South Carolina, &uot;The Palmetto State;&uot; New York, &uot;Gateway to Freedom;&uot; and Rhode Island, &uot;The Ocean State.&uot;

Two of those state coins, Delaware and Kentucky, feature horses. And what kind of horses are they? Well, they’re each a quarter horse, of course.

As a footnote to this column, there’s a another community here in Freeborn County with a rather appropriate slogan. On both sides of the water tower in Emmons are the words, &uot;Gateway to Minn 56029.&uot; Also, about half mile north of Emmons to the right of the south bound lane of U.S. Highway 69 is a sign with the same message for the folks going to Iowa.

Feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears Fridays in the Tribune.