Spring workshop serves multi-purpose

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

With a visitation from provincial judges on the horizon, Communities in Bloom is hosting a spring workshop in early April to educate the public on gardening while gathering input from the community and improving on the six categories being put under the microscope this summer.
It’s been three years since the Communities in Bloom provincial judges paid Strathmore a visit – a requirement necessary in order for the non-profit to operate in a community. Judging has to occur a minimum of once every four years to ensure the continuance of the organization. This year, Strathmore’s Communities in Bloom was faced with a decision; dissolve or be judged. In the wake of numerous Canada 150 projects, the creation of the birth forest over the last decade, a community garden, greater community engagement and an increased collaboration with the Strathmore and District Historical Society, the organization expects to impress the judges this year and increase previous ratings to the maximum of five blooms.
“We haven’t done this for a number of years but we’re going to do it this year and we’re hoping to have a really good response to our community because we think we’ve done a lot of interesting things lately that the judges want to be looking at,” said Robert Breitwieser, committee member of Communities in Bloom.
“We haven’t had them here for the last three years because we felt we weren’t ready, but now we are.”
Strathmore will be evaluated in the six areas of tidiness, environmental actions, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscaping and floral displays.
To guarantee a successful outcome, the non-profit has organized a free spring workshop in a week’s time at the Strathmore Municipal Library – the Strathmore Lambert Centre – where participants will learn how to plant and care for a prosperous garden, listen to guest speakers Cody Huxted about composting, Poplar Bluff Organic staff on organic gardening, and walk away with prizes, freebies, and seeds free of charge. The event proves twofold for the organization as the seven-member committee hopes to receive feedback and ideas from the community on how to beautify the town and raise the level of public involvement.
“We’re going to have table discussions, and each table will be discussing one of the six areas for when the judges come and we’ll have people giving input on how we can best promote that area of our community,” Breitwieser added.
“We’re all people who love flowers and love the community and want to make the community a nicer better more beautiful place. We’ve done a lot over the years. We want people to do gardening and get involved in growing their own vegetables, which is healthy.
“This workshop is one of the ideas we thought we could get people to come, and there’s multiple purposes to get people there.”
Strathmore’s Communities in Bloom was established in 2005. Since then, the organization took on a variety of projects, including the creation of the birth forest in 2007 that has expanded over the years and now includes fruit bearing trees and bushes. The non-profit also offers garden plots at a community garden near Hope Covenant Community Church called the Garden of Eat’n.
The Communities in Bloom Spring Workshop will take place on April 7 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Strathmore Lambert Centre. It’s a free program and no registration is necessary.