Get out your crayons and color me stupid, but as I sit here wondering what great mind decided that the Columbia Association logo must change because it can't be scaled down for the latest social media apps, I have to think "What would Jim Rouse do?"

As early settlers, the People Tree had and still does have such significance to those of us who moved from major metropolitan areas — in our case, Chicago — where inequality among peoples was rampant. One could sit at the lakefront and look up at the People Tree and imagine the makeup of those 66 figures. People of all faiths, all colors, all social statuses. We'd listen to the Carrillon Bells chiming in the background. If it was Christmas time, we'd go over to the mall to take pictures of the poinsettia tree. If family came from out of town, these were the things we showed them.

They tried to do away the bells and the poinsettia tree and people were up in arms. The tree is back and hopefully, soon, the bells will be, too!

I don't Twitter or Facebook and could care less if the People Tree image doesn't fit on your phone.

Gotta go — gonna run over to the lakefront to take a picture of the People Tree with my phone and save it as "wallpaper" before they knock it down and build a high rise.

Tweet that!

Sue Coughlan

Columbia