Editor, The Smithfield Times:

I send this letter with a smirk on my face, but seriously…

In the Jan. 12 edition of The Smithfield Times, I saw the name “The Grange at 10Main” for the first time. Well, I want to be among the first who own a home there, so the name draws my attention and comment.

Yes, I realize the word grange is of recent British origin meaning something close to “country house” or “outlying farm.” But how many people know that?

A simple web search further reveals the word has roots in old French meaning pen, shamba or barn belonging to a feudal lord. The Grange also stands for a social-political organization for farmers and an Australian wine.

Moreover, at a glance, the written word, grange, looks similar to the word garage. Add in the architectural emphasis on 1,000 places to park your car and an underground parking garage, and it is easy to accidentally read “The Garage at 10 Main.” Not to mention, “grange at ten main” rhymes, and has a syntax similar to a Dr. Seuss limerick.

Perhaps as the process (I write to support!) moves along, you might reexamine the name of our new town icon and give it a more fitting quality. And, I don’t want people to think I live in the town garage.

No, I had nothing better to do today.

 

Rick Gaddis

Suffolk