Our daughter, Colleen, was born and raised on Long Island and now lives in a suburb of Boston with her husband Adam. The town they live in is called Medford. We have a Medford here on Long Island and we pronounce that name just as it appears — Med (like the club) and Ford (like the car). However, in Boston, I’ve learned that the proper way to pronounce Medford is to pretend you have a mouthful of Sam Adams beer and to then sputter MEHfah.
I’ve gotten used to this, though I sometimes pretend the beer is a Miller Lite, and not a Sammy, in honor of my Milwaukee-born son-in-law Adam. It works just as well.