MetroWest Visitors Bureau

By Peter Golden

Many years ago, through the kindness of a friend, I received a short assignment to write promotional copy for a big, English tour operator – you know, the kind of company that might sell you a cruise to the islands of the Mediterranean or one-week visit to the hill towns of northern Italy.

One thing led to another and I became a regular contributor to the firm’s promotional campaigns. On Monday I wrote alluring descriptions of the Taj Mahal and by Thursday I was off somewhere deep in the jungles of Borneo.

Somehow that short assignment became a three-year engagement, in the course of which I researched and wrote tour descriptions and promotional letters for hundreds of destinations from the Galapagos Islands to the Far East and on to northern Europe and the far west in the U.S.

Not that I ever traveled that much myself  – my wife and I were raising two teenage girls and had our hands full, to say the least.

Then, in the mid-1990s we moved to MetroWest, about fifteen miles outside of Boston. Not too long after we set up housekeeping in a neat little colonial home in Natick, Massachusetts, I finally did become a serious traveler for the first time in my life, but not the kind that you might imagine.

Through an odd coincidence involving a WPA mural in the Natick Center post office and a group of Nipmuc Indians whose ancestors were the original inhabitants of the town to which I had just moved, I became a kind of time traveler.

Not to worry: my kind of time travel doesn’t involve whirring machines or special incantations. To the contrary, my method is based on endless reading and regular trips to archives and historic sites. Every so often it also includes an interview with the descendant of a historically significant figure.

In the last six or seven months I’ve been in touch with the nephew – eleven generations on – of a famous miller and Indian fighter from the 17^th century. His ancestor happens to be the first Englishman to settle in Natick, which back in the days when the Massachusetts Bay Colony was first settled was an Indian village.

I’ve even had some fascinating conversations with a descendent of a president of the United States. But I’m getting ahead of myself, because my kind of time travel is invariably based on local history in the fullest sense of the word.

In fact, I’ve constrained my time travels to MetroWest, the 18 or so communities which stretch from my town, Natick, west to Marlboro not far from Worcester, south to Franklin and north to Westborough.

Years ago, when I lived in Boston, I thought MetroWest was an eastern suburb of Chicago. Imagine my surprise then, on moving to the area, to discover it began only fifteen miles from the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill.

But that was only the beginning. As I delved deeper into the region I began to encounter people and events of the most unexpected sort.

I found visionary Puritans, peace-loving and avenging Indians, Tories and Patriots, abolitionists and Civil War heroes, industrial magnates and baseball teams. I even began to explore the world of pre-colonial Native Americans.

To my complete surprise, I discovered Indians towns and settlements dating back thousands of years, along with a sacred landscape of great beauty and significance.

And that was only the beginning. In fact, my time travels have led me right up to today and a surprising conclusion I want to share with you: for sheer variety in terms of social, cultural and contemporary experience, MetroWest may have no equal.

But it’s not just the history of MetroWest that I want to share with you. There are parallel threads reaching into our out of doors and the marvelous recreational spaces we enjoy and want to share.

Our technology enterprises are special, too, as are our colleges and universities. But what really sets MetroWest apart is the extraordinary diversity of resources and amenities combined with history and tradition – all represented by our shared culture, diverse communities and wonderful people.

I want to tell you more about MetroWest in terms of its past, present and future. But my real hope is that you will come visit us and walk our streets, share in our celebrations and begin to understand who we are and what we aspire to become.

That’s why I like to call MetroWest the first milestone on the road to America’s future.
Why not travel that road yourself and come see us? We’re looking forward to your visit!

Text Copyright 2011 by Peter Golden – The Golden Group