DEWEY BEACH, Del. - A new way of life may be coming soon to Dewey Beach. Town commissioners discussed the future of the town's tagline at an afternoon meeting on Friday, April 21, but did not come to any solid conclusions.
Jason Wilson, whose father Harry Wilson created the town's current slogan, spoke about a letter he and his father sent to the town earlier that day. The letter offered the town permission to use "Dewey Beach: A Way of Life" for marketing purposes, such as on signage. The Wilsons would continue to be the sole producer of slogan merchandise and offer wholesale products to the town and other retail outlets.
Officials raised concerns about making the tagline official while it is owned by a third party. Their two preferred options included either creating a new one or not having an official tagline at all.
Town commissioner Paul Bauer provided an update on Dewey Beach's tagline contest, which took responses until March 14 and solicited responses from 1,650 people. According to Bauer, the town's marketing committee split the submissions among members for review and began to identify key words that were popular among multiple submissions.
Words that appeared most often included beach, fun, life, sun, bay, mile, and memories. Bauer also discussed considerations taken by the committee about the appropriateness of new ideas given the way Dewey Beach has changed over the last 40 years.
Tagline submissions must have sent a positive message, been inclusive of the whole community, and been representative of current and future demographic changes. Bauer cited the number of long-term residents increasing in Dewey and the town becoming more of a home than just a weekend destination. Specifically, he mentioned that the town has about 1,600 homes and 630 rentals. The new tagline may be less tourism-based because of these changes.
Town officials voted to pause on the tagline decision and sent the issue back to the marketing committee. Their recommendation was for the committee to use the popular key words to create a new, official tagline.
As for the contest, the person with the submission that most closely resembles the final tagline once it is created will be deemed the winner and receive a 2023 Dewey Beach parking pass.