Five blooms for Communities in Bloom

By Janet Kanters Times Editor

Strathmore Communities in Bloom is hosting a spring 2019 workshop/presentation on March 2 that will focus on recognizing and treating diseases in trees and shrubs.
The workshop kicks off Communities in Bloom’s year, following a very successful 2018 in which the program received five “blooms” from judges after evaluation.
Communities in Bloom (CIB) is a Canadian non-profit organization committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community involvement and the challenge of a national program, with focus on the enhancement of green spaces in communities.
In early August, CIB judges visited the community and rated it based on several criteria.
“Our overall grade was 82 per cent with our strengths being floral displays, environmental action, tidiness and urban forestry. Our weakest areas were in heritage conservation and landscapes,” said Rob Pirie with Strathmore CIB during a presentation before Strathmore town council earlier this month. “In the overall summary, the judges were impressed with (Strathmore town) council for its transparency (and) its planning, in particular the downtown revitalization.”
Strathmore CIB was formed in 2005. Since then, the group has hosted judges periodically to view and rate the town on criteria set out by the national program.
Last year (2018) was the first time the group received five blooms, the most a community can receive.
According to Pirie, the judge’s summary page outlined observations and recommendations for the group to consider going forward.
“Many of the recommendations are already being acted upon,” he noted. “For example, the judges suggested more waste containers and you may know that many more were put out last fall. Lack of weed control on some of the commercial lots was noted as well, but the new city works program which you invested in will help.”
Pirie also said buy-in by business and commercial partners will be needed in order to achieve a better evaluation in the future.
Strathmore CIB has reached out to the Chamber of Commerce and will be looking to them for their leadership, and improving commercial landscaping and weed control.
“Council support of Donna McCallum means that we’ll have a tree inventory and we’ll have tree maintenance on a cyclical basis, both of which will improve our grade next time,” said Pirie.
He added there are things town council can consider as well. “Heritage conservation will require council to consider what strategic planning will be needed to preserve both natural areas and heritage buildings.”
The town entry and corridor along the Trans-Canada Highway was acknowledged by the judges as a challenge. Pirie said he believes there are a few things that could be done by the town and businesses to enhance welcome signs and overall impression of the town.
In addition, “bylaws may need to be developed to protect and enhance urban forests, (and) bylaw enforcement may be needed so there’s no unsightly properties in town,” he noted.
Pirie said the judges were impressed with the Western District Historical Society app but suggested more signs should be located at strategic points of interest in the downtown, and that the app needed to be promoted.
“Communities in Bloom will examine ways we can work with other community groups in encouraging volunteerism and pride in our community,” he added. “I would argue that Strathmore is doing a tremendous amount right. There is one area we should look at doing more of and that is telling our story.”
He cites as an example the community of Sherwood Park where tree beds commemorate things such as sporting events and conferences.
“I saw signs on baseball diamonds saying they’d been used in the 55-Plus Games. I saw benches, trees and outdoor art with signs indicating they had been donated to honour everything, from retirement of community leaders, opening a sports field, family reunions and graduations,” said Pirie, who visited the community last year. “I would suggest that everything they are doing we are doing. The difference is they are making sure the community and visitors are aware of it.”
The CIB committee has decided not to be evaluated this coming summer “in order to allow council, town staff and us to work out our deficiencies noted in the evaluation.”
However, Strathmore CIB will use the 2018 evaluation for future planning. In addition to the spring workshop on March 2, the group has plans to identify the first heritage tree in Lambert Park.
In addition, “we’ll be working with Wheatland Elementary and George Freeman Elementary to build garden boxes to further our commitment to urban agriculture,” said Pirie. “We’ll also be planning our birth forest on June 1st and we will continue to work on our project in north Lambert Park.”
Last summer, CIB paid for a sign to be installed at the entry of the park to acknowledge the historical significance of the site, the former location of the Strathmore CPR station. Strathmore CIB applied for and received a $6,000 grant from Waste Management’s 2018 Think Green Grant program. The money will be used to enhance the park.
The Strathmore CIB spring workshop/presentation goes from 10 a.m. to noon on March 2 at the Lambert Centre (Strathmore library).