(Zach Dietmeier/WJBC)
By Michael J. Whelan
No more BloNo!
With all due respect, and apologies up front, I mean really folks, who on God’s green earth came up with this nickname for our fair twin cities?
“Blo-No”? I’m sorry, and maybe it’s just the way my mind works, but doesn’t this sound quasi-pornographic? Or, at the very least, not the type of name I would associate with a marketing effort to enhance the image of Bloomington Normal.
Let’s just imagine you were from somewhere else, and your employer was going to transfer you to here. And let’s further imagine one of your co-workers asked you where you were going, and you had to reply, “to Blo-No”. Now, wouldn’t that tend to make you not so eager to move here?
Couldn’t whoever came up with name have given it a little more thought? Would that person want to say they were from “Blo-No”?
How about “Normington”? Or Norbloom, like the street that’s already here? Or “Bloomal”?
Anything but this. So please, I implore the author, go back to the drawing board and come up with something, anything, better than “Blo-No”.
Michael J. Whelan has been a licensed practicing attorney for over 33 years. He also serves as an arbitrator in the 11th Judicial Circuit Mandatory Arbitration program. In addition, he is presently the president of the board of directors of his homeowners association, and is also a member of the board of directors of The Old House Society. He and his wife of thirty-one plus years, Cheryl Whelan, live in Bloomington. He and Cheryl enjoy exercising, reading, and being close to family and friends.
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