Sometime in the nineties a committee was formed with the mission of coming up with a slogan that would change the perception of self esteem-lacking Rockford, Illinois. Most committees set out to build a horse and end up with a camel. This group’s final draft was, “A DifferentKind of Greatness”.

The reaction to this slogan was pure delight and euphoria (inside the committee room). Out in the real Screw City, reaction of many was, “Wha...What... What?” The good-intentioned group had invented something new, “Alternative Supremeness” or maybe even, “DeviantExcellence”. Just this exercise along would define our difference, in a very different manner.

Yes, I’m making fun. I can lampoon, because I’m a Rockfordian. If someone from Freeport or Beloit would show up here and dare ridicule this phrase, they would be impolitely escorted to their respective boundary lines. Again though, I can be a jester with same eye-rolling splendor that motivated me to call the “bureau” when the “We Make Smiles” campaign came out and asked, “Is Rockford the teeth-whitening capitol of the Midwest?”