What's in a name: 'A lot', Consultant says

Jeff Green | Mar 31, 2011

A consultant who is working on the Community Improvement Plan (CIP) for the hamlet of Verona said last week that it might take “more bold measures than simply upgrading street signs and awnings in front of existing businesses to make a real difference.

“One of the problems Verona has,” said Derek Crowley of the IBE consulting goup, “is that it does not have enough of a brand identity, and branding starts, I'm afraid, with the name of a place.”

Crowley was speaking to a small group that met at Mom's restaurant to prepare proposals for a larger meeting scheduled for this Friday, April 1st.”

Verona, he said, could be a good name if the connection to the famous northern Italian City, with its storied history and 48 towers, was more “palpable” Crowley said.

But based upon input from the public at last month's kickoff meeting for the CIP, Crowley said there were a number of compelling ideas that came forward, none of which had any thing to do with Italy.

“A name that connects to the real vibrant culture of Verona, Ontario perhaps one that has something to do with the history of the place or with the Verona Festival, would bring in a lot more traffic to main street,” Crowley said. “But only members of the community can decide on just the right name. A name should fit like a glove.”

South Frontenac Mayor Gary Davison said that he did not know what the process would be to change the name of Verona, and that it “would certainly involve council, but it is not something South Frontenac would take on without clear direction from the people in Verona. We're not going to get into another fight like we did over Sydenham water just for a name.”

Central Frontenac Mayor, Janety Gutowski, who said she was attending the meeting as an “interested observer”, noted “this kind of thing is best dealt with at the County level, where there are resources available to make name changes.”

Some at the meeting saw potential in the idea and some possible names were tossed out.

Names that were bandied about varied from “Reville”, in reference to the largest employer in Verona, to Verona Festival related names such as “Cattail City”, “Cameron” and “Lemmington”. On a more Loyalist note, “Prince Charles” was also mentioned, as well as “Middleton”, a reference to both the location of the hamlet in Frontenac County and the potential of drawing for visiting royalty this summer for a naming ceremony.

Portland District Councillor John Macdougall said that the whole idea made him rather nervous.

“We really should look up the history of the name Verona before we do anything here,” he said.

“Just don't touch the name Harrowsmith. There would be something to pay if that was even suggested,” said Councillor Bill Robinson.