After a brief hiatus to replenish themselves Melfort’s Communities in Bloom (CiB) will return to National judging this week.
The National judges are in Melfort on July 26 and July 27. Peggy George said that they were excited to have the national judges return after last competing nationally in 2022.
“We did we’re not getting a whole lot of new volunteers and some of our volunteers are getting worn out tired,” George said. “We’re all 20 years older than when we started way back in 2004, so we thought (we’d) just take a year off and gather up some speed and energy for this year.”
Melfort is competing in the Class of Champions category against Bay Roberts, Newfoundland and Labrador, Stonewall, Man., and Bruderheim, Alta.
George said participating in the program has extended to a year-round endeavour for the group.
“It just evolved into a very big program,” she explained. “We’re dedicated, but we’re getting a little tired. Anybody wants to join we are more than happy to welcome you with open arms.”
The communities will be rated from 1 to 5 Blooms, based on the scoring obtained. Also, they will aim to obtain Bronze, Silver or Gold levels in their 5-Bloom rating. Communities are judged on heritage, horticulture and environment. Ahead of the visit the local CiB reminds people and businesses to tidy up their yards.
“It’s just common sense but a lot of people don’t realize that what we see when we drive down the street is a perception of the area, the community, the people and so on. We have so many neat and tidy yards and they raise the bar for a lot of their neighbors,” George said.
She said there are still some people who do not notice or do not care, but most people are excited for the competition. They remind people who own vacant lots, people who are renting, and business owners to take the same care.
“We ask those people to be a little more mindful of their properties and to pick up, clean up and do their part show their civic pride,” George said.
The national and international results will be announced in Charlottetown, PEI from Oct. 17-20, during the National Symposium on Parks and Grounds and the National and International Awards
“It’s a great time to mix and mingle with other like-minded community people and we learn more about the program more about what we can be doing the sustainability and of our communities and that that kind of stuff,” George said.
The Judges arrive in Saskatchewan on July 25 and begin their tour on July 26.
“We tour them around show them what we have been doing, what the city has been doing, what the residents have been doing in their area and in the commercial industrial area. And then we will meet with our volunteers and they get a chance to meet the judges in the evening and then it’s a wrap-up on July 27 and then they’re gone, it’s short and sweet,” George said.
She explained that one challenge is showing off the whole community.
“It’s time-consuming for sure and we want to hit all of the high spots and then we leave it up to them we said and we can plan the tour all we want they may have some other ideas, they may want to go down a back alley that is not on our tour,” George sad.
She said that those unexpected stops are why they hope the community has done their due diligence.
“It’s fun, it’s exciting, (and) it’s emotional actually because we just want to do so well. We want to portray how great we really think we are,” she said.
“If everybody does their little part of the world it we all win and we all shine so it’s good for everybody,” George said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.c
