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Dear readers,
New Shelbyville Common Council member Linda Sanders has suggested rebranding the city with a new motto to replace “Pride in Progress.” Mayor Scott Furgeson likes the idea and so do I.
I wasted no time in calling a special meeting of Team Schwinn to come up with some ideas. While rebranding might seem silly to some, history has shown it can make a huge difference to a city especially when it comes to tourism.
Almost everyone knows the motto of some American cities. New York is “The Big Apple.”
New Orleans is “The Big Easy.”
Chicago is “The Windy City.”
Cleveland, Ohio, for years had the motto, “The Mistake on the Lake.” Changing it to “Cleveland Rocks!” brought the city fame, fortune, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Las Vegas, Nevada, increased its tourism and attracted several professional sports teams when the city changed the motto from, “Where the Mob Buries the Bodies” to “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.”
Closer to home, Greensburg, Indiana, has been pulling hundreds of tourists off Interstate 74 to see their famous courthouse tree with the now famous “Tree City” brand.
Since Shelbyville is named to honor the first governor of the State of Kentucky, I told the team that a Kentucky theme might be a nice touch. Our sister city, Shelbyville, Kentucky’s motto is “The Gateway to the Bluegrass.”
We had a couple of jugs of eggnog left over from our Christmas party. After the team members turned in their suggestions, I suspected some may have had a little too much eggnog. So be warned, some of the suggestions might be the eggnog talking.
Without any additional introduction, here are the top 10 suggestions for Shelbyville’s new motto:
Shelbyville: There’s No Tree in our Courthouse, but we have 10% fewer Hillbillies than Greensburg. SHELBYVILLE, HOME OF THE INDIANA DERBY! Shelbyville, Former Home of the Famous Bears of Blue River Festival Shelbyville, ALWAYS MORE LOST THAN FOUND Shelbyville: Don’t Blame Us, It Was This Way When We Arrived. Shelbyville: Home of the Giant Stainless-Steel Thingamajig! BALSER, HE’S MORE THAN A STATUE Shelbyville, Home of the Do It Yourself Walking Tour, Available 24/7 Shelbyville, We’re Not Called Shelbytucky for Nothin! Shelbyville, Gateway to BoggstownSee you all next week, same Schwinn time, same Schwinn channel.
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