So, the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts and the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau — and now The Recorder (March 12 editorial) — feel that “‘Pioneer Valley’ is a brand no longer in sync with the region” and thus needs to be renamed and rebranded so that future visitors to the area don’t think of covered wagons “from out west” when they see the word “pioneer” and thus bypass the valley in their Range Rovers, and drop their dollars elsewhere. (Never mind that Northampton and Yankee Candle are already “destinations.”)
Too easy.
Too easy, that is, to be irreverent here, to poke fun at the entire misguided notion. Instead, suffice to say that I think this entire suggestion of renaming the Pioneer Valley is completely dumb, desperate and shallow, and just the sort of vacuous move that disrespects the past while pushing us further down the road of mindless consumerism. Rebranding, though, might engender some thought.
Consider one of the definitions of “pioneer”: “to develop or be the first to use or apply (a new method, area of knowledge, or activity).” Consider too all the indie brewers, small farmers, organic farmers, farm-to-table restaurants, entrepreneurs, music scenes, charter schools, innovative public schools, artists, polymer scientists, and the like, that, woven together, comprise the innovative and future-looking fabric of the Pioneer Valley of today.
Are they not all true pioneers?
And so here’s my suggestion: Rebrand the Pioneer Valley as … the Pioneer Valley. Let the name stand. Respect our rich historical past while looking forward via the lens of today’s many local pioneers, for therein also lay hope for a more sustainable future.
STEVE MURPHY
Greenfield