Town prepares for Communities in Bloom judges’ visit

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

Town of Strathmore staff has been maintaining lawns and planting flowers as Strathmore is urged to put its best foot forward next weekend when judges from Communities in Bloom are visiting to evaluate the town.
The Strathmore Communities in Bloom group is required to have the town evaluated at least once within a four-year period in order to keep their membership with the national Communities in Bloom organization. Earlier this year, the organization had to make a decision: either dissolve or be judged.
As the deadline quickly approaches, the town has been weeding, trimming and cleaning Strathmore’s main attractions while encouraging the public to spruce up their gardens and clear garbage before judges arrive on Aug. 2.
“I think the town staff has done a lot of work so they’ve done a tremendous amount of work getting ready,” said Rob Pirie, Strathmore Communities in Bloom chair.
“They’ve been weeding and trimming and trying to make the route as great as possible. We have a set route throughout town trying to highlight some of the key parts. The town’s been prepping all those areas in anticipation of that.”
Judges will be assessing the town on tidiness, heritage conservation, environmental action, urban forestry, landscape and floral displays.
To show off some of Strathmore’s sites, judges will receive a tour of the composting complex at Waste Management, walk through the Birth Forest, visit the parks, community garden and disc golf course, and swing by the community centre and recreational facilities before embarking on a tour through the downtown core and Kinsmen Park.
The local chapter of Communities in Bloom was established in 2005. Over the years, it has helped develop numerous projects such as the Birth Forest, Centennial Park, Gray’s Park, a community garden, upgrades to the Strathmore Civic Centre and a sign at the Kinsmen Park garden. Besides its numerous projects, the organization hopes to impress the judges through it’s greater community engagement and increased collaboration with the Strathmore and District Historical Society, members of which will be present and active during the downtown tour.