Say Wa, Wenatchee?

"Wenatchee. Meeting Rivers. Meeting Friends. Meeting Needs."

Say Wa?

Being a Seattle paper, normally we would leave well enough alone, and not make mean of slogans from east of the mountains, but this is too much.

Here is a town in the center of our state that is so identified with Golden Delicious and Granny Smith that it has an Apple Blossom Festival and even its newspaper, the Wenatchee World, has an apple in its masthead.

Wenatchee has been known as "Apple Capital of the World" for decades, and it throws it all away for — we grit our teeth — "Meeting Rivers. Meeting Friends. Meeting Needs."

"Apple Capital of the World" has history. It has pride.

If the pride edges into braggadocio, that is all right. Cities can do that. It makes people feel proud about their unique spot on the Earth.

"Meeting Rivers," etc., makes one feel sedated. It is a soporific phrase, a daily pill of Prozac. It could fit a hundred cities and describe none.

Those in the Three Meetings City who feel insulted by our criticism might point out that "Metronatural," the new trademark of the Seattle Visitors and Convention Bureau (or is it Metrosexual?) is more happybabble.

Say Wa?