Dear Editor:
I have given great thought to the debate over the new Mount Forest signs. I have heard arguments and counter arguments, but there is one thing that remains.
We have lost some of our identity and individuality, and, with the talks about redoing the water tower, now is the time to speak up.
I have only been a resident of this wonderful, amazing, spunky, town for the last 17 years, give or take a few months. However, in that amount of time I have come to realize a few things.
1) This town prides itself on its history and on its foundation.
2) They pass things down from generation to generation and the people who have had their families here through the generations can tell you things that most would have long forgotten.
3) It’s a small town, and it prides itself on small-town charm.
4) That slogan “High, Happy and Healthy” means a lot to a lot of people (more than 60 years ago Jack Johnson, a former mayor and MPP suggested it in a slogan naming contest).
People identify Mount Forest with that slogan and by removing it you’re taking away part of our individuality and our heritage and our history. You’re taking away part of what makes Mount Forest, Mount Forest.
If we cannot keep the slogan on the water tower, which at the end of the day is what most people are requesting, then I graciously request that Arthur and all those under your jurisdiction have their town slogans that are true to each town replaced with the same one we were given.
After all, we are all located in Wellington North. “High-Happy-Healthy” was replaced with “Simply Explore” which is used in Wellington North tourism marketing.
Mayor Andy Lennox told the Advertiser on Sept. 18 that, “It’s incredibly unfortunate that someone chose vandalism as their way to express their dissatisfaction with the sign change.”
Well, Mayor Lennox, I hope the emails that you are receiving are not going to fall on deaf ears. We are standing up, and we are choosing to email and contact you to request you keep our slogan alive! “Community pride at its best,” Lennox stated. Well, Mr. Mayor, this is it. This is pride in our community. Just the way it is. With our same old slogan.
If we have to lose some of our identity, we should all stand in unity under one slogan.
Kayla Young,
Mount Forest