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Stillwater asks that festival name be changed because of 'vulgar reference'
By Mary Divine
[email protected]
POSTED: 01/23/2014 12:01:00 AM CST | UPDATED: ABOUT 5 HOURS AGO
Artist Randy Raduenz (right) and his assistant Mary McElery work on Stillwater's log jam mural in September 2007. Some city residents are concerned that a new summer festival called the Log Jam could be ridiculed for its name. The mural replicates the scene of a major log jam along the St. Croix River in 1884. (Pioneer Press file)
After word got out this week that the new summer festival in downtown Stillwater would be called Stillwater Log Jam, a resident contacted Mayor Ken Harycki.
Now, city officials are asking The Locals, the group planning the music and family festival, to consider another name.
"The city has concerns over the name that was chosen," Harycki said Thursday. "We were made aware -- how can I put this delicately? -- that the name was a vulgar reference that we would prefer not to have associated with a family event in the city. We don't want to be the laughingstock of the nation."
City Administrator Larry Hansen emailed festival organizer Cassie McLemore on Thursday afternoon with the city's request. "Somebody brought it to our attention that it could be construed (in a sexual way), and we've asked them to consider changing the name," Hansen said.
McLemore said The Locals -- who announced the festival's name Tuesday night -- do not plan to change the name. She said the name was in the group's proposal that the Stillwater City Council approved last fall.
"Oh my Lord," McLemore said. "Honestly, I mean how ridiculous do you have to be? Are we 14-year-old boys? Seriously. Ninety-nine percent of the people, that wouldn't even cross their minds. Why make a mountain out of a molehill? I think we're just a little too sensitive."
The Locals tried to lease the name "Lumberjack Days" from the nonprofit Lumberjack Days Festival Association, which has had a service mark on the name since 1994, but couldn't reach an agreement, McLemore said.
"We can't sit around and wait," she said. "We need to have a website, we need to have social media. ... 'Stillwater Log Jam' was the name that was proposed at our presentation to city council, and we never heard anything negative from the city about the name until today."
Stillwater Log Jam fits the history of the city, McLemore said. "We were a logging community; there were log jams; and 'jam' kind of goes with the name of a festival. There's a big mural of a log jam painted on a building in downtown Stillwater.
"Honestly, you can turn anything in a sexual meaning," she said. "There's probably something called The Lumberjack, too."
By Mary Divine
[email protected]
POSTED: 01/23/2014 12:01:00 AM CST | UPDATED: ABOUT 5 HOURS AGO
Artist Randy Raduenz (right) and his assistant Mary McElery work on Stillwater's log jam mural in September 2007. Some city residents are concerned that a new summer festival called the Log Jam could be ridiculed for its name. The mural replicates the scene of a major log jam along the St. Croix River in 1884. (Pioneer Press file)
After word got out this week that the new summer festival in downtown Stillwater would be called Stillwater Log Jam, a resident contacted Mayor Ken Harycki.
Now, city officials are asking The Locals, the group planning the music and family festival, to consider another name.
"The city has concerns over the name that was chosen," Harycki said Thursday. "We were made aware -- how can I put this delicately? -- that the name was a vulgar reference that we would prefer not to have associated with a family event in the city. We don't want to be the laughingstock of the nation."
City Administrator Larry Hansen emailed festival organizer Cassie McLemore on Thursday afternoon with the city's request. "Somebody brought it to our attention that it could be construed (in a sexual way), and we've asked them to consider changing the name," Hansen said.
McLemore said The Locals -- who announced the festival's name Tuesday night -- do not plan to change the name. She said the name was in the group's proposal that the Stillwater City Council approved last fall.
"Oh my Lord," McLemore said. "Honestly, I mean how ridiculous do you have to be? Are we 14-year-old boys? Seriously. Ninety-nine percent of the people, that wouldn't even cross their minds. Why make a mountain out of a molehill? I think we're just a little too sensitive."
The Locals tried to lease the name "Lumberjack Days" from the nonprofit Lumberjack Days Festival Association, which has had a service mark on the name since 1994, but couldn't reach an agreement, McLemore said.
"We can't sit around and wait," she said. "We need to have a website, we need to have social media. ... 'Stillwater Log Jam' was the name that was proposed at our presentation to city council, and we never heard anything negative from the city about the name until today."
Stillwater Log Jam fits the history of the city, McLemore said. "We were a logging community; there were log jams; and 'jam' kind of goes with the name of a festival. There's a big mural of a log jam painted on a building in downtown Stillwater.
"Honestly, you can turn anything in a sexual meaning," she said. "There's probably something called The Lumberjack, too."
I'm not googling it.
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