Branding: The Wilbraham Welcome Project

This one hits close to home - literally! Wilbraham, Massachusetts is my hometown. It’s where I grew up, it’s where my family’s farm operates, it’s where The Homegrown Studio is headquartered. Wilbraham is home.

Aurora was a friend I had growing up who peaced out of Wilbraham as a young adult and then found her way back here with a husband and two beautiful kids. Aurora and I go way back; our Moms met through Welcome Wagon in the ‘90s. When Aurora returned and set her own family’s roots down here in 2020, she was both a native and newcomer, and she was eager to reengage with community. Finding limited opportunities outside of gossipy town Facebook forums, she had a vision along the lines of 1990s Welcome Wagon - but cool. Something that would welcome the new folks into town while engaging long time residents too. She affectionately started calling it The Wilbraham Welcome Project, and asked if I might like to collaborate with her on it.

Having long ago made peace with the fact that I am indeed a townie, in all likelihood bound to this place for life, I jump at any chance to try and make Wilbraham a little cooler. It’s never going to be Northampton cool, but it’s definitely got it’s own vibe going. The Wilbraham Welcome Project sounded like the perfect way to celebrate that vibe. So we got started.

Peaches. Wilbraham is all about the peaches. Growing up, the pinnacle of summer was reached each August at The Peach Festival, which you’d walk to with your friend group, eat peach sundaes, go on janky rides, win goldfish in bags at carnival games, and hopefully make out during the fireworks. The original Peach Fest is sadly no longer, but peaches remain our iconic town crop - although arguably these days it is all about the apples.

Anyhow, peaches are at the center of this brand. We put a peach on everything. Voting stickers, tote bags, shirts, hats, holiday ornaments - all peached.

An offshoot of this effort was a revival of the town farmer’s market, which The Wilbraham Welcome Project proudly manages. We branded that too, making everything consistent and instantly recognizable. I beam with pride every time I see a lawn sign in town, and enjoy bringing Iron Horse Flowers to the market each Wednesday with my sister.

We packaged it all up into a website - a single resource for new and current residents for all things Wilbraham. It includes a town calendar, helpful links, a merch shop (the year of merch continues!) , farmer’s market info, and more.

Celebrate, cultivate, champion is the motto for The Wilbraham Welcome Project: we’re celebrating our beautiful town and all its rich heritage, cultivating a strong community and bright future, and championing the local businesses and organizations that make this an awesome place to live.

This was way more than a branding project to me - it was about helping shape the future of my home, and it has been so cool to see a new kind of hometown pride blossoming as a result. Thanks to Aurora for the monumental effort she has made to bring this idea to life, our town is surely better for it.