The talk in the coffee shops, on the sidewalks and in corridors of gathering spots in the city has been about an animal.
Even though it isn’t officially hunting season, the talk is about moose, elk, antelope and caribou — and not where one might find such animals if it were hunting season.
The conversations are laced with some amusement, a little bit of horror, considerable consternation, a bit of derision and a few comically raised eyebrows.
The topic relates to the city’s new logo, the animal with an impressive rack of antlers that was a heavily guarded secret until being unveiled just before the Scotties Tournament of Hearts began at Mosaic Place.
Anyone who happened to be at the curling venue would have seen the infamous logo displayed on the surfaces of the four sheets of curling ice. The moose was out of the bag, so to speak, making an official announcement necessary to explain the identity of the animal and how it came about.
Some people like the svelt-looking animal, saying it reflects the “new Moose Jaw.”
But there is confusion too: is it a caribou, an elk, an antelope. A moose?
Yes indeed, that is a moose, one described by city officials as “bold, proud and looking towards the future” just as Moose Jaw looks to the future.
Hmmmm. If one were wont to ponder where the moose is looking, one might suggest he is looking to make sure none of his moose friends from the bogs and fields see him and laugh, for indeed, there would be laughter.
But we have him as our new city logo, designed, we are told, by an out-of-city company who took the city’s vision and came up with this interpretation of a moose — because city officials insisted the logo had to include a moose. Surely a local design company would have had a better appreciation for the kind of moose that would have appealed to city taxpayers.
Change is difficult and possibly this logo will eventually be embraced by the population that currently has reservations about the vision that came up with this creature.
Right now, the conversation is leaning towards “oh deer.”
Joyce Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
