What's in a name? A couple of modest suggestions

New London has a waterfront park. It's called the Waterfront Park. While accurate, no one burned the midnight oil coming up with that one. It's a generic designation, replicated elsewhere, that says nothing about the uniqueness of our city or the grandeur of our past.

The National Guard Training Center in Niantic, Camp Rell, is named for the current governor who is also the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard. It's been proposed to permanently rename the center; saving money for new signs and stationary and eliminating the confusion when a new governor takes office. It's a bit of Nutmeg homespun that I'll miss, but I suppose that's progress, begotten by budget.

Others have suggested renaming the Groton-New London Airport as a means to better promote it and the region. "One-Armed Bandit Field," would surely promote our region's gaming interests but might be too bold for a place that puts people thousands of feet into the air. But there's always safe and popular Mystic, despite it's distance from the airport. (The same rational could be used to rename downtown New London to "Paris." One can just imagine the tour buses cruising Bank Street hoping for a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. )

Proper names make connections to the past. They provide us with a continuity to our family, neighborhood, region, state and country. They say much as to who we are and what we value.

Here are two name changes.

The Don Lumadue Poetry Park.

I heard the late Don Lumadue read his poetry at the Waterfront Park. He was not a great poet - there are so few - but what he may have lacked in creative rhyme and meter, he made up for in the sheer joy of the spoken word. He was a bear of a man who loved and served our city. A businessman, poet and collector of things, he combined an easy skepticism with genuine enthusiasm for New London. We could do worse by naming the park after him. Yes, people would have to learn about him and I think that would be a good thing. Poets are thinkers but they are also doers.

The Mary Katherine Goddard Airport.

For the past six years, I've written the script, with an assist from Thomas Jefferson, for New London Declaration that's held at the Hygienic Arts Park on Independence Day. The event features a reading of the Declaration of Independence with the appearance of historical figures from the era. Most are men save for one true patriot and hero of the Revolution, Mary Katherine Goddard.

Goddard was a printer, editor, the first postmistress and a newspaper publisher. In January 1777, she printed for the Congress the first copy of the Declaration of Independence to include all the men who signed the document.

This was no small feat. The British hung people for far less. The daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Giles Goddard, she was born in New London June 16, 1738. She is a Revolutionary War hero who fought for her country not with sword or musket, but with words, ink and paper.

Her name does not come quickly to mind. People will have to learn about her and ask who she was and why we named an airport after her. One of the first rules of marketing is to arouse curiosity and to give people a reason to learn more.

Most important, honoring a grand poet and a courageous printer will say something about us and what we value. It would announce to a candid world, that here on the banks of the Thames, we value doers and thinkers as well as those who also stand and cheer the bands in the parade.

Peter J. Roberts lives in downtown New London. He invites readers who've enjoyed this commentary to make modest donations to New London Breakfasts (http://www.nleggs.org ), an organization that feeds the hungry and homeless and that the author ardently supports.