The teddy bear mascot, a staple of Medford's promotional efforts for nearly 20 years, will still be used at events from time to time but it has been replaced with a new logo touting the city's sunny weather instead of its hospitality.

"We don't want to totally get rid of the bear," said Julie Petretto, the Medford Visitors and Convention Bureau's director. "It has done well for us for a number of years. It's just not the image that we will use."

The longtime "We Hug Visitors in Medford" slogan also has been replaced in favor of "Medford -- The Center of It All."

The changes were announced Monday. Petretto said the new logo and slogan are intended to hone Medford's image and make a bold statement in an increasingly competitive tourism market.

"The Center of It All" might have a more pretentious tone than "We Hug Visitors," but Petretto said it was important to tout the city's position as a hub of regional attractions.

"It's maybe stepping out there but that's what you need to do when the industry is so competitive," she said. "We need to point out the positive and step out there."

Petretto added that Medford has long promoted itself as a central springboard for tourists to visit Crater Lake, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Britt Festival and other draws.

"Medford is pretty much a hub to all these wonderful attractions," she said. "We are kind of the core, making it all work together."

The slogan is similar to a jingle used in the mid-1990s to promote Portland's Lloyd Center. That pitch, by the Turtledove Clemens ad agency, touted the shopping spot as "The center of the city, in the middle of it all."

Linda Higgons of Turtledove Clemens said the spots haven't run for several years and that Medford's use of the slogan doesn't bother her.

"It's been used before," she said.

Petretto said she was unaware of the Lloyd Center jingle. Bureau staff and consultants spent seven months planning their strategy and debating logos and slogans. The effort was meant to complement the city's visioning process -- an effort spearheaded by Mayor Lindsay Berryman to define the community's "preferred future."

"We just felt it was time to have a fresh look," Petretto said.

The new logo, with a sun as the "o" in Medford, is intended to promote the city as Oregon's sunny spot.

"Our weather is a major attraction compared with the rest of the state," she said. "People think of Oregon and they think of rain."

Petretto's predecessor, Patti Bills, is credited with coming up with the idea of Huggy Bear and the "We Hug Visitors" slogan. Bills officially retired earlier this year after suffering two strokes and being diagnosed with lung cancer in 1998.

Bills could not be reached for comment Monday. But Berryman, who, like Petretto, worked closely with Bills over the years to promote Medford, said Huggy Bear will be missed.

"Huggy Bear's like a member of my family," said Berryman. "It'll be like watching him getting married and move away. I hope he'll come back and visit from time to time. I think it'll be a long time before he's forgotten.

"I don't think the warm welcome is going to disappear with Huggy Bear."

And Petretto added that the hugging isn't ending either.