Chatham-Kent’s winning streak in the Communities in Bloom competition continues to grow.
The municipality received a prestigious 5-bloom rating and a special mention for parks planning and implementation during the 2013 national and international awards ceremony.
The event, opened by Chatham-Kent town crier, George Sims, was held in Ottawa on Oct. 26.
Chatham-Kent has received a 5-bloom rating in national competitions since 2005.
This year, the honour was achieved for the first time in the international competition.
Monica Moore, C-K Communities in Bloom co-ordinator, attributed the local success to the work of dedicated volunteers.
“Amazing people around the table, and then they reach out into each of their communities and they recruit and encourage all the people around them and all the service groups,” said Moore. “We really have a huge buy-in from your average citizen.”
While Kamloops, B.C. was named champion in the large community category of this year’s international challenge, Moore was excited to see C-K score another 5-bloom rating.
More than just planting flowers, Communities in Bloom is a Canadian non-profit organization committed to building civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community involvement.
After winning a national title in 2010, C-K qualified to compete at the international level.
Under the competition’s guidelines, communities are allowed up to three years to prepare their entry.
As part of the competition, international judges Bob Ivison of the U.K. and Alain Cappelle of Belgium toured Chatham-Kent last July.
One of the stops was Kingston Park in Chatham, where Ivison was impressed with the effort made to reuse old materials at the park.
“This is a good example of reuse and recycling,” said Ivison, pointing to some of the wood used in the facility construction, and to the stone paths at the west base of the main building.
The stones are pieces of concrete that came from demolished municipal properties.
Cappelle was intrigued by the splash pad.
“I am very impressed with this park, especially with the splash pad,” he said, “It’s in a park setting and is just for play and for fun.”
After their evaluation, the judges wrote about the strength of the community involvement in the various landscape projects.
“Each project is unique and most communities in Chatham-Kent undertake landscape beautification projects that are instigated and managed by community groups and local residents,” said the judges, noting that Kingston Park, Talbot Trail Place and the Tecumseh Park master plan are examples of such innovative projects.
Tom Beaton, C-K manager of parks, cemeteries and horticulture, said the judges’ remarks echo the comments of previous judges who have praised the area’s volunteers and the grassroots-managed projects.
In addition to instilling pride in the community, Beaton said the competition has also helped to bring C-K’s communities closer together, especially after the amalgamation in 1998.
“Communities in Bloom was one of the first programs that focused our communities on a goal and I think it broke the barrier of anti-amalgamation sentiment,” added Beaton. “I think that is widely known, and the program has gained a lot of respect for that.”
Chatham-Kent has been in Communities in Bloom since 2002 and has acquired the following prestigious awards:
- 2011 International Home Hardware Beauti-Tone Heritage Conservation Award
- 2011 Landscape Ontario ‘Green for Life’- Park Award (for Kingston Regional Park)
- 2010 National Winners
- 2009 International Tidiness Award.
- 2006 International Scott’s Best Community of Gardeners Award
- “5 Blooms” nationally since 2005
