Motto Industry

Wauconda is getting a new village motto. Which has prompted some operatives to ask: Just where do village mottoes come from? Back in the day, a village board would call a special session after a regular board meeting and convene at the village liquor commissioner's tavern. Around 2am, one of the trustees would burst out that he just had the most awesome new village motto slogan idea.

Of course nowadays the Illinois Open Meetings Act is enforced. Villages looking for a new slogan are now expected to throw a bunch of hospitality-budget money at a downtown PR firm to come up with something suitable to everyone's liking. Unless it is a Lake County village, in which case for that downtown PR firm substitute a village committee. And for that hospitality-budget money substitute some slogan ideas donated by villagers. According to the Lake County Journal ...

The committee – made up of several former board members and nearly a dozen villagers – narrowed them down to three choices. "Wauconda: Preserving our past, envisioning our future" and "Work, play, live – the unique spirit of Wauconda" also were top picks. But "Village With a View" won out.
Wauconda to roll out new village motto

Small-town villages are no different than tweeners. So when one village gets a new motto, then they all have to get new mottoes. Your LakeCountyEye has learned that several villages are already evaluating proposals. The best are tightly held secrets, but a few rejected village mottoes have been leaked to your LakeCountyEye. Here are ten:

Ten Rejected Lake County Village Mottoes

Help me Wacounda, get me out of this town. Gurnee: Smile for the red light cameras. Long Grove, your gateway to the Route 53 Extension. Keep Waukegan, there's nothing to see here. Cruise the scenic Great Lakes from Port Barrington. Buffalo Grove: Stone Free For what it's worth, Wadsworth. Park City: we have the loosest slots around. Kenosha: Not in Lake County. Not even in Illinois. 'Nuff said. Island Lake, a community of friendly people.

Some classics are destined never to change, like your LakeCountyEye motto:

To fear God, tell the truth and make money.