If there’s one issue other than water that’s sure to spark debate here, it’s the ongoing discussion about the Guaranteed Rugged branding chosen to market Lillooet to the world. Some love it, others hate it.
A few months ago, a friend commented that her sons – all in their 20s – love it. Since then, we have noticed a somewhat predictable pattern in the Guaranteed Rugged discussion. If you’re younger - under 40 perhaps - you tend to like the brand and think it’s cool. Over 40? Most likely you didn’t like the ‘Dirty Girl’ and may even think the latest ad is downright dangerous and should carry a disclaimer.
While there are exceptions to this interpretation, we think is has some merit. Ask yourselves who likes it and who doesn’t among the people you know. Perhaps you’ll conclude the Guaranteed Rugged debate is a predictable difference in perspective among generations and should be viewed as such.
We’d be curious to know the ages of the ‘Group of Seven’ who were consulted on the new brand for Lillooet. We don’t know if local demographics were considered, but the next time the District seeks input on a similar matter, we trust a broad cross section of the community will be included and varying demographics will be respected.
W.F.
Kudos to the coordinators and sponsors of Walking with Smolts. They did a terrific job organizing two days of fun-filled, intriguing and educational events for students, residents and visitors.
Reflecting on the event, we smile to think that the only water debates were over who was going to be first to release his or her plastic bag of coho fry into the creek. No matter where we snapped a photo, there was a magnificent mountain vista in the background. And people were hugging and saying hi and isn’t this fun? It was a gentle and valuable reminder of the common ground we all share and the common love of community that binds us, despite transitory political differences. Thanks, we needed that.
W.F.
