January 27 2015

The following letter was submitted to the paper after being sent toAlgonquin Highlands Reeve and chairwoman of the county’s tourismcommittee Carol Moffatt.
Dear Carol
I just tweeted that “Unwind Local” is the most grammatically ugly phrase I’ve come across since “Shop Local.” I read in the Echo that you stated that this is “an unfortunate trend” but that the county must capitalize on the trend. Not at all. Two wrongs don’t make the third one right.Whether ungrammatical it is linguistically ungainly and awkward reading and sounding. I suspect it is virtually meaningless as well. 
The Echostory notes that it is the culmination of a number of “un” words —unmatched unparalleled. These are fine. The problem here is that theseare adjectives descriptors whereas “unwind” is a verb a call toaction. They don’t go together at all. 
I seriously question whether“shop local” and “eat local” have established themselves with the public so deeply that we must follow the same example. Rather I would suggest that instead of just taking the easy route to devising a theme Ms.Virtanen take a fresh look at the goals and develop a phrase that really expresses something meaningful for the county.
A final note that damnsthe theme as it stands is that it could be used by any recreationalarea. Muskoka (they wouldn’t dream of saying anything so bumpkin-like)Georgian Bay and so on.
“Unwind local” fits right in with people whosay “youse” “Lay down Jimmy” and “real good.” 
As I said on Twitter:it tells the world we’re hicks.

Yours sincerely
Jack Bush