WILLOW CREEK — Ezra Thorne II, the 66-year-old grandson of Willow Creek’s founder, formally objected to the adoption of “Homan’s Pond” as the official name of the town’s principal body of water at Tuesday night’s town meeting, in what the Gazette’s editor characterized as “the most spirited exchange in recent memory.”
Thorne, who rose from his seat in the second row of the Community Hall shortly after the selectmen opened the floor for public comment, asked that the board formally decline to recognize the name that has been gaining currency in the Gazette and in common usage since Edwin Thorne’s feature article appeared in February.
“I object to the name ‘Homan’s Pond,’” Thorne said, reading from a prepared statement. “This body of water has been known by many names over the years. It has been called the deep hole, the mill pond, the kettle. But to assign it the name of a single family — a family that has owned the land around it for only sixty-five years — is to erase the longer history of this place.”
Thorne argued that the pond should bear “a name reflecting the town’s heritage, not one family’s good fortune in living beside it.” He proposed that the selectmen defer any decision on naming until a historical committee could be formed to research the pond’s history.
Elias Homan, who was present at the meeting, did not respond to Thorne’s objection. When the Gazette asked him afterward whether he was offended, Homan shrugged.
“Ezra Thorne has been objecting to things his whole life,” Homan said. “That is his right. The pond is called Homan’s Pond because that is what people call it. No town meeting can change what comes naturally. And if the selectmen decide to call it something else, it will still be my pond, and I will still watch the ice go out every spring.”
The selectmen, after a brief discussion, declined to take up the naming question at this meeting. First Selectman Everett Croft noted that the board had “more pressing matters” to address, including the town’s application for federal relief funds.
“I understand Mr. Thorne’s concern,” Croft told the Gazette. “But the board has not received a formal petition on this matter, and we are not aware of any controversy beyond this evening’s remarks. Until someone presents us with a reason to act, we will let the name settle where it may.”
The Gazette notes that the exchange, while heated, did not escalate beyond words. The two families have coexisted in Willow Creek since the 1860s, and their occasional frictions have always resolved themselves without lasting damage.