< PREVIOUS ] [ 2006 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >
Since I live near the center of our state (that is, at
least 100 miles from any place that outsiders may have
heard of, like Boulder or Aspen), and because my financial
situation is such that a trip to Leadville or Montrose is a
major outing, I have never paid much attention to those
Welcome to Colorful Colorado
signs at the
borders.
The signs do not convey a feeling of It feels good to
be back home.
It's more like Another two or three
hours of twisting mountain road replete with black ice,
rockslides, manic Gen-X extreme sports motorists,
tortoise-paced land yachts towing Jeeps towing boats,
over-loaded semis with bad brakes, suicidal deer and
homicidal elk loitering on the blacktop, blinding glare
from distant metal roofs, spewt drivers talking on their
cell phones, wind gusts strong enough to knock over trains
-- then I'll be home to discover that the cats have
shredded the couch and the hot water pipes are
frozen.
But those signs have become controversial. They're wooden, so they need more maintenance than modern metal signs. They also have a retro '50s look, like a roadside stand offering rubber tomahawks.
So our state's Office of Economic Development proposed a
new and improved border sign. It had a chaste off-white
background, small red letters for Welcome to
and a
big blue Colorado.
The reaction was about what you'd
expect if they had decided to replace the bighorn sheep
with the skunk as the official state mammal.
Even if he isn't running for office this year, Gov. Bill
Owens still has excellent political skills. Catching the
swell of public opinion, he promised that our current
wooden Welcome to Colorful Colorado
signs would stay
if the legislature would provide more money for promoting
tourism.
This deserves more consideration, though. There are two related factors. One is the the design, the other the message. Our design problem is simple -- unlike many neighboring states, we don't have a convenient state symbol.
New Mexico, for instance, has the zia, a circle with four sets of four rays. Utah presents the beehive. Wyoming offers its trademarked Bucking Horse & Rider. Kansas displays its sunflower.
In this era of brand-building, Colorado must be
suffering economically because we do not use a consistent
image to brand our state. There are several candidates. The
crossed hammer and pick on our state seal is simple and
distinctive, but it has been decades since mining dominated
Colorado's economy, and few modern tourists are likely to
think Let's go to Colorado to see some stopes and
winzes.
Our state flower, the columbine, adorns the Scenic Byway
signs inside our borders, but it presents several problems
as a border emblem. Columbines grow in many states. The
image is not a simple one that stays in the mind. And
columbine means dove-like,
which could be
interpreted by Republicans as an anti-war statement, thus
discouraging tourists from other red states.
We do have a masterpiece in the montane silhouette on our license plates, though. It's clear and simple. We should use that design on the welcome signs.
But what should the signs say?
Just about every state's border announces that
Mississippi welcomes you
or Welcome to Maine
or The People of Iowa welcome you.
Do we have to be
like everyone else? Especially when there are so many
Coloradans with attitude problems in this regard? Do we
really want to welcome undocumented aliens, jet-setting
Euro-trash and ambitious real-estate speculators?
Probably not, so why bother with an insincere
welcome
message? Further, we live in litigious
times, when people are apt to file lawsuits if they were
welcomed, but not warned about hazards like avalanches,
wildlife, flash floods, wildfires, gridlock and the
like.
Some test-marketing is clearly in order, and I know just
the place. The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad crosses
the state line 11 times in its 64 twisting miles between
Antonito and Chama, N.M. People don't just whiz by, the way
they do on the highway; the steam-powered narrow-gauge
trains run at a leisurely pace, giving people ample time to
view and judge the Colorado border signs being tested with
messages like Howdy,
Come on in,
or Stay
till you've maxed out your credit cards.
And I would hope that my proposed border sign might win
favor. Green and white, based on our traditional license
plate, it would say Colorado: Enter at your own
risk.
< PREVIOUS ] [ 2006 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >