Communities in Bloom
2005 Communities in Bloom GROWING INTERNATIONALLY
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The program strives to improve the tidiness, appearance and visual appeal of Canada's neighbourhoods, parks, open spaces and streets through the imaginative use of flowers, plants and trees.
2006 Communities in Bloom
Spring may be a long way off but green gardens and beautiful towns are already in the minds of Communities in Bloom organizers in St. Thomas, Aylmer and Central Elgin. All three groups are preparing to make 2006 a great year for community improvement. Kicking off in February and running until August, Communities in Bloom encourages people across the world to gussy up their communities and compete with each other for top prize — and bragging rights, of course.
This year's CIB competition will be the last hurrah for St. Thomas: after 10 years of involvement, they're bowing out. "Win, lose or draw, this is the last year for us," said CIB co-ordinator Ross Tucker. "But as a community, we decided we're going to win this year." Tucker explained they just missed out on international glory last year, finishing just behind first-place Woodstock. They hope to take home top prize with a series of big plans, from a community clean up program in April to a street festival this summer.
Moving up the scale is Aylmer's goal as well. They hope to improve upon a second-place finish at nationals
in 2005 by taking home top honours this time around. "This is the year we're going to go for it. We've made some of the changes so I think we're going to do very well," said CIB chairwoman Judi Wright. She said they have a whole slew of ideas from community involvement in parks to emphasizing history.
Above all, they want to show judges Aylmer has something unique to offer.
"They want to see what things make your community unique. They wanted to see our cemeteries, tobacco farms etc. Those are things that help make Aylmer," she said.
In 2005, Central Elgin's CIB came so close to qualifying for nationals last year, a result they hope to remedy through an array of new strategies from a snazzy new welcome sign on Highbury Avenue to an arboretum near Union. It won't be an easy thing to accomplish, said co-ordinator Craig Cole.
"We're in the toughest category (10,000 to 20,000) because it has a lot of small towns," he said. "The problem is, we're not a small town but a large municipality and that makes it hard," he said. "Instead they tell us to emphasize the things that are good about our municipality and they'll be lenient on the things that we don't have."
