Kudos to Glenn Prezzano for making Merrimack Valley Magazine better and better with each issue. As a region, the Merrimack Valley needs this kind of publication to develop and maintain a distinct personality and image. The combination of local content, local writers, local photographers and designers, and business talent is impressive. The recent announcement about Special Places in the state is on theme with the message of the magazine. With each issue, the MV Magazine team contributes to the “sense of place” in the cities and towns along the river.

This bio-regional approach has much to recommend it — it’s a good way to be thinking about the area in which we live. The keynote speaker at the recent Innovative Cities Conference in Lowell, Adolfo Carrion of the White House Office of Urban Affairs, said urban areas must begin thinking  of themselves more regionally, both in the way they connect to surrounding towns and in their linkages to nearby cities that make up their metropolitan areas, particularly the small to medium-sized cities. Manchester, Nashua, Lowell, Lawrence, Haverhill, Newburyport—there’s a commonality there that not only may offer some answers to enduring challenges in the region, but also may hold the potential for progress on fronts we have not fully explored.

The July-Aug issue has an excellent article about the Concord River Greenway Park by Emilie-Noelle Provost with photographs by Adrien Bisson, and a couple of fine food pieces by Kathleen Pierce, illustrated with photos by Kevin Harkins. There’s also an excerpt from a memoir by Lawrence writer Richard Edward Noble (“A Summer with Charlie,” set in 1961).  And page 27  has a witty cartoon by Jim Roldan titled “Merrimack Valley Ice Cream Company” that shows four ice cream containers labeled: “Lowell: Kerouac Krunch, Eat It On the Road,” “Andover: Extremely Vanilla, Silver Spoon Included,” Lawrence:  Mucho Gusto, Mocha Swirl,” and “Seabrook Station: Glow-in-the-Dark Pistachio.”

Check out the current issue at your local news stand or the magazine rack at your supermarket (Market Basket always has it) or visit www.mvmag.net for a sample of the contents.