RUMFORD – Is the River Valley the best, nestled between beautiful hills or the gem of Western Maine?

That’s the question the River Valley Growth Council wants residents of the region’s 10 towns to decide.

The Growth Council has solicited ideas during the past few weeks for a slogan that will clearly identify the area. About 50 ideas were submitted to the Council’s Marketing Committee, said the organization’s executive secretary, Rosie Bradley. From those 50, the committee narrowed ideas down to 10, then to three.

Now it’s time for residents to choose. The three slogans are:

River Valley – The Best of Western Maine

River Valley – Nestled Between the Beautiful Hills of Western Maine

River Valley – Western Maine’s Hidden Gem

Bradley said people can e-mail their choice to [email protected], mail it to the River Valley Growth Council, 34 River St., Rumford 04276, call 369-0396, fax it to 369-0356 or drop into the River Street office. All votes must be in the RVGC office by July 7.

All votes must include a name and telephone number.

Bradley said the Marketing Committee is working to get the sign at the end of the turnpike changed from Rumford to River Valley, on which the new slogan will also be placed.

“We need to let people know where we are,” she said of the importance of having “Western Maine” in any slogan. Other areas in the state, she added, are also known as the River Valley.

Branding the area, as she termed it, is a crucial part of identifying the area and marketing it, said Bradley.

Besides the turnpike sign, Bradley said the selected slogan will also be inserted in any kind of promotion for the area, such as those distributed through radio, brochures and newspapers. Hopes are to incorporate the slogan on stationery for the Growth Council, the River Valley Chamber of Commerce, the River Valley Healthy Communities Coalition, and perhaps that of the region’s towns.

Eventually signs designating the area and its slogan will be erected.

People from the towns of Andover, Carthage, Byron, Peru, Rumford, Roxbury, Mexico, Dixfield, Hanover and Canton may cast votes for the slogan.

[email protected]