The Municipality of Bluewater received Four Blooms from Communities in Bloom Ontario. The award and a special mention award for the Zurich Lutheran Church pioneer cemetery cairn restoration project were accepted by Chief Administrative Officer Steve McAuley, left, committee members Jim Fergusson and Carol Steckle, and Marg McAuley from CiB, director Monica Moore from Chatham-Kent. Photograph courtesy of Communities in Bloom Ontario.
BLUEWATER – The Municipality of Bluewater has maintained its Four Blooms Award.
It has also raised its overall score to just two percentage points from the top level in Communities in Bloom Ontario.
“Special thanks for the hard work of the volunteer committee members and the municipal staff for their help achieving this award,” said co-chair Jim Fergusson upon receipt of the awards.
“Committee members and the community should be proud to celebrate this award. Congratulations and special thanks to everyone involved for their contribution to the program,” he said.
Communities in Bloom also bestowed the special mention award on the Zurich Lutheran Church’s pioneer cemetery cairn restoration project at the provincial award ceremony in Goderich on Saturday, Sept. 29.
“The judges were honoured to be among the first visitors to this completed project. We heartily praise Alma Westlake and her volunteer committee for their ambition, dedication, research and hard work in this historical project,” said judges Angela Vieth and Susan Cheetham, in Bluewater’s evaluation.
The committee is composed of Westlake, Chris Eagleson, Diane Klopp, Lois Thiel, Michele Haberer and Sharon Sanders.
Bluewater has received Four Blooms for three consecutive years and until now maintained a 75 per cent average. This year, the score was 79 per cent. The planning committee’s efforts show in the Communities in Bloom Evaluation written by judges Angela Vieth and Susan Cheetham who spent a day in the communities.
“First impressions are lasting and the Municipality of Bluewater was clean and tidy, showing beautiful floral displays throughout. Congratulations to the public works staff on a wonderful job of cutting and mowing throughout the municipality. The Bluewater ‘sunny side up’ posters are excellent and should be an example for the provincial organization. The judges like the easy to understand aspects of the CiB program included on the poster. Well done!” the judges wrote.
Heritage farms visited during the tour made an impression on the judges who commented, “The farming community could have some fun in the CiB program by running a ‘farm front yard competition’ or the ‘most beautiful heritage barn competition’ or something similar to engage their community.”
Efforts of volunteers like the Bayfield Tree Project and Bayfield River Valley Trail Association and the municipality to improve in criteria for landscaping, floral displays, tidiness and urban forestry show in the annual evaluations. From 2010 to 2012, landscaping marks increased 65 points, floral displays increased by 47 and tidiness by 34.
“The judges had a wonderful time in the Municipality of Bluewater and thank the committee for a pleasant tour of the community and for the wonderful hospitality shown to us. One of the highlights for the judges was the opportunity to play croquet with the club members. The turf was in great shape and kudos to the members for making great use of the former gravel pit. This facility is a gem!” the judges wrote.
Communities in Blooms holds competitions at the provincial, national and international levels. Bluewater participated at the provincial level with similar sized municipalities. Each municipality is required to publish a profile book that addresses each of eight criteria and provide it to the judges prior to the tour. The tour provides a visual connection to the book and an opportunity for the planning committee to sneak in a little more detail. For the past two years, the full-colour book was produced by Heather Redick of Zurich. For the first time, Bluewater’s book was displayed at the August conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario at the request of the judges.
The Bluewater planning committee is composed of representatives of municipal council, merchants and community volunteer organizations.
Click here to read the 2012 Ontario Evaluation.
