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 For the second consecutive year, the City of Miramichi has entered the Communities
in Bloom competition at the provincial level.
"Last year we did really well," says Marilyn Jardine, Chair of the Committee.
"We got four blooms, a score of 76 out of 100, which qualified us to go to the national competition. We chose to stay in the
provincial competition for another year because we're just getting going."
Communities in Bloom is a non-profit organisation that fosters civic pride,
environmental responsibility and beautification. It began in 1995 with 29 Canadian communities and has grown to more than
100 national and hundreds of municipalities registered in the provincial editions.
So far, three New Brunswick municipalities have registered - Bouctouche and
Sackville are new to the competition, and Miramichi is registering for the second time.
The committee accomplished a lot last year, especially considering they just
got started in January. This year, they hope to do even more. They are involved with a lot of different upcoming projects
including projects with Nelson Rural School and the Rotary Club.
The Rotary Club plans to convert a vacant lot on Pleasant Street next to the
Bank of Montreal into a mini-park.
Last year, the committee erected community identification signs throughout the
city like in Nordin and Nelson.
"This year we're going to try to get flowerbeds around those signs," Marilyn
says. "There are about 47 signs. We've targeted half, that we're going to try to get sponsorship for and put flowerbeds around."
The Museum in Chatham is working with Communities in Bloom and also with the
John Howard Society to do some work on the exterior of the Museum.
"We're also having a local flower contest again," Marilyn says. "We held one
last year and we had sixty entries. Moncton had around twenty in theirs. So we did really well. This year we've changed the
name of the local contest to the Lloyd Brown Memorial Flower contest. Lloyd owned and operated Brookdale Nurseries for over
50 years and unfortunately he passed away last planting season. So, in memory of him we're naming the flower contest after
him."
Evaluations take place at the height of the gardening season and the city will
be judged on July 30th.
The committee will prepare an itinerary for the judges and then tour them around
the city. Last year the judges picnicked on Middle Island, toured Beaubear's Island and French Fort Cove, and visited the
Newcastle Town Square and several historical sites like the Rankin House.
"Communities in Bloom is not just flowers," Marilyn says. "It's the flowers,
the heritage, tidiness, the community involvement or volunteer base which is just totally amazing here, the environmental
efforts, recycling, that kind of thing. We took them to the sewage plants, believe it or not, and they were quite impressed
with our sewage program for environmental purposes. That's all involved in Communities in Bloom."
Municipalities, businesses and private citizen's homes are part of the evaluation
and they are judged on eight key criteria:
Landscaped Areas - overall design and suitability for location, a balance
of plant material and constructed elements, harmony (colour, texture and shape), integration of art elements and more.
Urban Forestry - any written policies, by-laws and regulations, short
and long-term plans, maintenance, new plantings, heritage trees and woodlots, preservation of trees and succession planting.
Floral Displays - arrangements of flowers and plants, originality, distribution,
location, diversity and balance, harmony, quality and maintenance pertaining to flower beds, carpet bedding, containers, baskets,
window boxes - annuals, perennials, bulbs, ornamental grasses, etc.
Turf and Open Spaces - the quality of naturalisation, the use of ground
covers and wild flowers, turf management (manicured to rough), maintenance (mowing height/frequency, Integrated Pest Management
(IPM), fertilisation programs, irrigation, water restrictions). Areas include municipal and private sports fields, athletic
parks, etc.
Heritage Conservation - efforts to preserve heritage within the community.
Support and attention to museums, archives, history books and interpretative programs, policies and by-laws, preservation
and restoration of buildings, cemeteries, parks, heritage gardens, trees, monuments and artefacts, historical societies and
advisory committees.
Environmental Awareness - environmental efforts including such things
as sustainable development, policies and by-laws, waste reduction, landfill sites, hazardous waste collection, sewage disposal,
transfer/recycle stations, recycling initiatives, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), water source, treatment and conservation,
naturalisation, environmental clean-up activities, environmentally friendly transportation.
Community Involvement - citizens from the private, municipal and corporate
sector (including all forms of local businesses) and their involvement in various community projects. Volunteers involved
in long and short-term projects (Family Day, Clean-Up Day etc.) and recreational programs (coaches, team managers, etc)
Tidiness - an overall tidiness of green spaces (parks, etc), medians,
streets, sidewalks, ditches, road shoulders, signage, vacant lots and buildings with regards to garbage, weeds, maintenance
and repair, dog droppings, notices/posters, graffiti and vandalism. |
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 "Communities in Bloom sounds like its just flowers, but it isn't," Marilyn says.
"Flowers are a very small part of it actually. There's a lot involved in the whole program and this all comes into play for
your final score. So we got 76 last year. That was pretty darn good first year out. I was quite impressed and everybody worked
real hard to get that."
Communities in Bloom is divided into Provincial, National, and International
Competitions. In the Provincial competition communities participate according to their population category. No community is
too small; the first population category is 1 - 1,000. Community's with a population of more than 300,000 can enter directly
in the national edition. The top two communities in each Province are invited to participate in the following year's National
Competition.
Last year Miramichi received 4 blooms in the category of Heritage
Conservation. They could have competed nationally this year, but they wanted to compete at the Provincial level for another
year before jumping to the National ranks.
"It's a good program," Marilyn says.
She was involved with Communities in Bloom for several years while
living in Ontario before moving here three years ago.
"I watched different small towns turn things around in tourism,"
she says. "That's where I've seen it very beneficial. It was amazing."
She particularly remembers what happened with the city of Aurora.
"They won the first year and then the media started picking up on
it and then people started coming out and before you knew it . . ." she recalls. "They have a little square like Newcastle,
they ended up closing down their Square and making it strictly walking traffic because the place was so busy on the weekends.
People were coming and all of a sudden the shops all started opening again. It was really neat to see. And it was strictly
because of the program, in that case."
Some benefits other communities have felt by participating in the
program are an increase in civic pride and community involvement; citizens, groups, organisations, business and municipal
government all mobilised, and pulling together; process of continuous improvement for the whole community, year after year;
decreased vandalism; economic development; increased property values; marketing and promotional potential; increased tourism;
increased impact on the hospitality industry; increased impact on the retail industry and more.
"So, this is why I'm gung-ho about it because I believe tourism is
where Miramichi has to go for our economic development," Marilyn says. "And we've got such a place. I mean, my God! Take a
look around here, what a place for tourists to come and stay! And that's what I'm in the program to promote."
The provincial winner will be announced at the Tourism Industry Association
of New Brunswick (TIANB) annual awards dinner on Friday, October 17th at the Delta Brunswick Hotel, Saint John.
You can help the City of Miramichi do well in this competition. Organise
a neighbourhood clean up. Take an interest in Heritage. Clean up a vacant lot. Pick weeds. Fill your yard with flowers. Plant
a tress or a shrub. Volunteer with a Community Group. Encourage your neighbours to get involved. Decorate your business. Recycle.
Keep your lawn neat.
If you'd like to get more involved or for more
information visit the national website at www.communitiesinbloom.ca or contact the local organisation through the City of Miramichi Community Development & Tourism Department
at 141 Henry Street. Phone (506) 623-2150 Email tourism@miramichi.org |
