Centennial committee looking at logos, slogans

Several entries were received by Tuesday’s noon deadline in the logo/slogan contest being held by the Fort Frances Centennial Committee.
“We received six logos and, coincidentally, six slogans. It’s a good response,” CAO Bill Naturkach, a committee member, said Tuesday after meeting with the rest of the committee for a first look at the entries.
“Most represented what happened in the community in the past 100 years, and with some, even the past 300 years with the fur trade,” noted museum curator Pam Hawley, who also sits on the committee.
The committee is expected to choose the winning logo and slogan by early next week, although they won’t be announced until Canada Day.
“Because it wasn’t cut and dry with some of the proposals, we’re going to ponder them for a few more days,” noted Naturkach.
“We’ve got a graphic artist student at the museum, and we’ll get together and look at possibly combining aspects from different logos,” he added. “We’ll see what comes out of that.”
Naturkach said while the committee was a little worried at this time last week, the entries that flowed in this last week showed people had been working them all along and was a positive sign of things to come.
“The results of the contest shows people are interested in the centennial,” he remarked.
The winning logo and slogan will be announced by Mayor Glenn Witherspoon at the museum courtyard just after noon on July 1. The winner(s) will receive formal recognition from the mayor and council.
The logo and slogan selected will become the sole property of the town, and will be used for any purposes in its sole discretion. They may be permitted for use by others but only with written consent.
The logo and slogan will be used to promote the town’s centennial, which officially falls on April 11, 2003. Naturkach said that means they likely will show up on everything from posters and flyers to T-shirts.
Meanwhile, the committee has been busy planning for the centennial, going through the process of what events will and won’t be available for the celebration.
“For instance, we requested the RCMP Musical Ride but they were already booked for 2003. We’ve [also] contacted the OPP Golden Helmets but we haven’t heard any response yet,” noted Naturkach.
“For the next meeting [July 10], we will have a list of some the events that have gelled,” he added.
Naturkach said the committee has been contacting other groups in an effort to get them in on the organizing. He cited one as the Riverside Foundation for Health Care, which raised more than $3.5 million with its recent “Care Close to Home” campaign.
The campaign included promotions like a district-wide stretcher push to drum up interest.
Since the committee has yet to form various sub-committees, and is always looking for new ideas, Naturkach welcomed the public to attend its next meeting July 10 at noon at the Civic Centre.