An Ohio town wanted to change its name

Oregon, Ohio, is officially changing its name for one week in light of the Ohio State Buckeyes playing the Oregon Ducks in the inaugural College Football Playoff championship game next Monday in Arlington, Texas.

No, it’s not.

Yes, it is.

And so it went Monday as news broke that the Ohio town of Oregon, a Toledo suburb with about 20,000 residents, was changing its name to …

Oregon, Ohio: Buckeyes on the Bay, City of Duck Hunters.

But then came more confusion as Mike Seferian, Oregon’s mayor, was flooded with media calls from around the country.

Seferian was adamant that the name “Oregon” should remain in the city’s name because it dates back to 1838, 21 years before that other Oregon became a state.

Somehow, that convinced a Toledo TV station, WTVG, that Oregon had backed away from a name change and would issue only a proclamation that it was “Ohio State Buckeye Week” in Oregon (Ohio).

That got picked up by Yahoo Sports.

“I don’t know where this stuff comes from,” Seferian told The Register-Guard.

So, he wants to set the record straight: Oregon, Ohio, has indeed changed its name to that aforementioned 10-word title — which includes the word “Oregon” — until the national championship is decided.

It also includes “Buckeyes on the Bay” because one of Oregon’s official slogans is “City by the Bay.” (The other is “City of Opportunity.”)

“WHEREAS The City of Oregon has been petitioned by residents to make it clear that we are not associated with Oregon University Ducks Football, and request us to change our City name …” reads part of the proclamation. It ends with:

“Now, therefore, I, Michael J. Seferian, do hereby choose to honor the wishes of the petitioners by the power vested in me, as Mayor of the City of Oregon, and do hereby proclaim January 5 – January 12, 2015, as … THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYE WEEK IN THE CITY OF OREGON, OHIO” and during that week the City will be known officially as “OREGON, OHIO BUCKEYES ON THE BAY, CITY OF DUCK HUNTERS.”

The name debate started after two residents of the city who don’t normally cheer for Ohio State started a petition. One of the men is more into soccer than football and, perhaps shockingly, the other roots for rival Michigan.

Matt Squibb, one of the petition organizers, said he didn’t want anyone to be confused about who the city would be cheering for during the title game.

“Call it anything but Oregon,” he said.

They also thought the city’s high school should temporarily change its colors from green and yellow, which, of course, also happen to be the colors of that other Oregon.

Seferian said he looked into the history of the city’s name and found it was originally called Oregon Township and that the name came from the Oregon Territory in the Pacific Northwest.

But, he wants to make it perfectly clear that the city of Oregon has no connection whatsoever to the Oregon Ducks.

“We aren’t them,” said Seferian, who pronounced the name of his city as ore-GONE, the way most Easterners pronounce the state of Oregon.

“We’re a separate entity,” he said. “We’re not the state of Oregon.”

Asked to say “Go Ducks,” Seferian simply said: “Where do you want me to have them go?”

Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkBakerRG . Email [email protected] . The Associated Press contributed to this story.