Downtown Winslow has fallen off the map – literally – and entered the realm of oral tradition.

Because it’s hard to sell something that no longer exists on paper, Team Winslow has changed its name to Bainbridge Island Downtown Association.

“This is for our work off-island,” said BIDA Executive Director Cris Beattie. “There is no more Winslow ferry, and Winslow is not on the map anymore since the whole island became one city, so people didn’t know what ‘Winslow’ had to do with Bainbridge Island.”

Among other activities to promote downtown, the group distributes a “walkabout guide” at the Seattle ferry terminal, on the boats and in downtown Seattle hotels. But it was up to ferry workers and hotel concierges to explain, if they could, the fact that Winslow used to be a separate city in the island’s downtown core until 1992, when the whole island became the City of Bainbridge Island.

“Concierges change every month,” Beattie said, “and although they understood when we explained, we had to constantly re-invent the wheel.”

The situation has become more acute now that the downtown organization has teamed up with the Seattle Visitor and Convention Bureau.

“They had the same questions of ‘what is Team Winslow,’ and ‘what does that have to do with Bainbridge Island,’” Beattie said.

So at its most recent meeting, the board of directors voted unanimously for the name change.

“It was a tough decision for the board because of the loyalty to Winslow,” Beattie said. “I had to explain to them some of the challenges I was facing.”

By whatever name, Bainbridge Island is a popular spot for downtown hotel guests and convention-goers, Beattie said.

“All I really have to go by is the fact that we printed 50,000 of the walkabout guides last year, and we ran out. We had another 8,000 printed up recently to try to take us through our regular printing for next year, which will come out in May, and this year, we will print 100,000,” she said.

Long-time members said the name change was appropriate.

“The new name identifies where we are – Bainbridge Island – and what we are – the downtown association,” said BIDA board president Jan Hannon.

“It’s a name that clicks, that people can identify,” she said.

Hannon seconded Beattie in saying that the name “Winslow” doesn’t have a lot of meaning off-island.

“The sign at the ferry dock says ‘Bainbridge Island’ now, not ‘Winslow,’” she said. “Someone not from this area had no idea who we were when we said ‘Team Winslow.’”

Founded in 1987 to improve downtown Winslow in the face of anticipated competition from a renovated Village shopping center, the group sponsors downtown promotional functions throughout the year, including the July 3 street dance, and the Christmas season tree-lighting ceremony.

The group’s office is in the Marge Williams center on west Winslow Way, especially appropriate because Williams was one of the group’s founders in her capacity as downtown business owner and Winslow city council member.

In another change, islander Wendy Danzig has joined the group as Beattie’s executive assistant.

Danzig, a Gonzaga graduate, has more than a decade of experience in retail marketing, including managing Saks Fifth Avenue in San Francisco.

An active volunteer, Danzig founded the PeeWee cheerleading program for Bainbridge girls, and is the publicity chair for the newly formed parents group called Imagine Bainbridge.

Danzig’s husband Brian is a real estate attorney in Seattle. They have two girls, both of whom attend Bainbridge schools.