Today, downtown Dunedin’s Main Street is bustling with shops, eateries, people, cars, golf carts, bicycles and more.
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continued to grow, as did our little town.
The Dunedin ads expanded to two pages
in the magazine’s January/February 1998
issue before gradually growing to three
pages in the January/February 1999 issue.
Dunedin and Tampa Bay Magazine were
successfully growing. While working on
the July/August 1998 issue, we found
we had room to include Dunedin’s entire
tagline of “Discover Delightful Dunedin”
as the Dunedin pages’ heading.
By our November/December 1999
issue, we realized that not every Dunedin
business should be physically located on
the Dunedin pages. After all, some ads are
really too large to be there, or may work
better in other areas of the magazine. In
addition, many businesses have multiple
locations, which are not all located in
Dunedin. These realizations led to the
inclusion of the Dunedin pages’ “Also in
Dunedin” listing in order for those whose
ads were not physically on the Dunedin
pages to still have a presence there.
The Dunedin pages’ brick background
was replaced with red plaid as a nod to
Dunedin’s Scottish heritage in our May/
June 2000 issue. This was still before you
could easily access quality digital files on
the computer to find special backgrounds
or borders to use. I felt the red plaid was
exactly what we needed, since not only
would it draw more attention to the
ads on the pages, but at the time, was
representative of Dunedin. The Dunedin
Junior Service League, which now has
merged with the Clearwater Junior
League to create the Clearwater-Dunedin
Junior League, had been responsible for
the Scot Shop resale store, building and
donating the Dunedin Fine Art Center,
starting Dunedin’s annual Art Harvest
art show and sale, supporting Dunedin’s
library, nature center and so many local
charitable groups within and beyond
Dunedin. Over the years, the members
of the Dunedin Junior Service League
volunteer community service group had
worn various versions of red plaid or to
accessorize their uniforms.
Our art director Tony had to tediously
scan my wiggly red plaid wool 3-inch wide
league scarf, straighten the plaid’s lines,
meld the scrap-like pieces together, and
in effect, create the new Dunedin pages’
red plaid background. Although during
the early 2000s, Dunedin hired an outside
firm to design a new multicolor logo and
slogan, “Home of Honeymoon Island,”
I opted to stay with the Dunedin pages’
more traditional red plaid and “Discover
Delightful Dunedin” heading. After all,
Dunedin has a lot of history, and the red
plaid has become an integral part of it.
Needless to say, we have no plans to
change it.
As Dunedin grew and prospered over
the years, and as it became easy to locate
things on the computer, I began to see the
same Campbell clan’s red tartan from our
Tampa Bay Magazine Dunedin pages being
used as backgrounds for copycat Dunedin
pages in several other publications, along
with versions of the same “Discover
Delightful Dunedin” heading.
Although I was upset at first, I soon
realized being copied was a major
compliment. It also meant Dunedin had
really come into its own and that any
publicity our city gets is a plus, even
though it is now thriving to the point that
it is sometimes difficult to walk or drive
down its Main Street.
This success has expanded to Dunedin’s
other downtown streets and well beyond
to the east, the south and the north, where
the Caladesi area has become a popular
destination of its own.
I especially appreciate it when someone
points out how my red plaid is being
copied. I am also glad for the opportunity
to share the true history of the Dunedin
pages’ red plaid background and now
thriving city’s Scottish heritage and history
of dedicated, hard-working volunteers and
business owners. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Margaret Word
Burnside, who was the first female president
of the Dunedin Council of Organizations,
who has served on the boards of Dunedin
Service League, Dunedin History Museum,
Dunedin Fine Art Center and advisory
boards of the art center and Clearwater-
Dunedin Junior League, is the recipient of the
Dunedin Chamber of Commerce’s “Delightful
Dunedin Award” and the Dunedin Historical
Society’s “History Maker Award.”
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