Being part of Communities in Bloom is more than just flowers for Melfort.
Peggy George with the Melfort Communities in Bloom said that civic pride and community involvement is something judges noticed during their visit on Aug. 3.
“Homeowners take a lot of pride in their front yard and in the business section too, a lot of the businesses have flower pots or trees by their front door and they keep them neat and tidy.”
A lot of maintenance work and development has gone into Melfort’s entry this year, said George, with the planting of trees and flowers in barrels and pots across the city.
Since last competing in 2014, the committee has also brought in two new points of interest on the north and south sides of town, which they are proud of, said George, as well as taking care of three pocket parks and flower beds throughout the city.
Proceeds from many national and provincial events have gone to lighting at the ball diamonds, an amphitheater at the Kerry Vickar Centre, and an electronic reader board at the Northern Lights Palace and those are things the judges have given a nod to, said George.
The City of Melfort and its citizens have stepped up royally, said George, especially when the committee saw what needed to be done around the city, the citizens listened and stepped up to the plate to beautify the city, she says.
“We noticed a lot of dead trees that had fallen ill from that October snowstorm that we had last year. That did some damage and all of a sudden they disappeared before the judges got there.”
Melfort has been part of Communities in Bloom at the provincial level off and on for over a decade and have appreciated the feedback over the years.
However, it is a challenge to keep consistent levels of volunteerism and volunteers can burn out after a while. This is why Melfort does take some time off between entries, says George, with Melfort competing in 2005 and 2006, 2013 and 2014, even winning their category in 2014 with five blooms.
“We’ve had a couple of years off, we’ve worked on a few new projects, and it was just time to throw the hat in the ring again and show off our stuff.”
George is excited to hear back from the judges about how the city has done this year with results coming later in the fall.
Melfort competed at the provincial level this year in the 5,000-plus population category and, if they do well this year, the committee will be toying with the idea of entering the National competition, said George.
“Being that we achieved five blooms once, obviously we want five blooms again but we want a higher percentage mark than we had last time.”
