As part of the Name the Brook contest, the Honey Brook Community Partnership (HBCP) is seeking the community's help in coming up with a name for a 1.5-mile-long stream that originates in Honey Brook Borough and travels through both the borough and Honey Brook Township.

The waters from the small stream, which is officially designated as "Unnamed Tributary #4 to an Unnamed Tributary of the West Branch of the Brandywine Creek," eventually make their way to Wilmington, Del. "The (contest's purpose) is to bring awareness to the fact that water that starts in Honey Brook winds up as someone's drinking water in Wilmington," said Name the Brook committee member Kristy Deischer-Eddy, administrative assistant for Honey Brook Township.

"Honey Brook is known as 'the headwaters of the Brandywine,'" added committee member Jennifer Simmet. "Giving this stream a name seems like a fitting activity to bring the community together in a positive way."

Contest entries can be submitted at http://www.hbpartnership.org through Friday, May 14. With the support of the Honey Brook Township Board of Supervisors and the Honey Brook Borough Council, the Name the Brook Committee will select the best ideas from among the submissions and present a list of stream names for the community to vote on. Votes will be collected between Monday, May 17, and Tuesday, June 1, at ballot boxes located throughout the community.

The winner will be announced and submitted on an application to the United States Geographic Names Board in June. Once the name is approved, the HBCP will share the news with the community.

While the stream cannot be named for a living person, it can be named for someone with ties to the history of the area. "It could be an historic landowner's name or have some significance to the geography of the area," said Deischer-Eddy.

Local students are also invited to submit an entry. "Maybe schoolchildren can go to the library and do research and come with a name," Deischer-Eddy noted.

According to a map of the area, the East Branch and West Branch of the Brandywine Creek flow southeast for approximately 27 miles and 33 miles, respectively, to their confluence about 10 miles southeast of Coatesville. The combined waters of the two branches continue to flow southeast through Chester County, past Chadds Ford, and then enter the state of Delaware about 5 miles north of Wilmington.

"(Designating a name) matters because small streams are often unnamed and therefore unmapped. Unmapped streams tend to be unprotected," Deischer-Eddy added.

The HBCP, established in 2008 as an association of businesses, residents and local government officials, meets monthly to facilitate communication, share resources and work together with a mission "to enhance and promote greater community spirit in the Honey Brook area." For more information, visit the previously mentioned website or http://www.facebook.com/hbpartnership.org.