Excitement is growing as In recent months, the City Clean Green Beautiful North Bay (CGB) and a dedicated Communities in Bloom committee have been preparing for the event judges to visit.
"We have created a two-day itinerary that showcases the city's highlights in six categories: community appearance, environmental actions, tree management, heritage conservation, landscape, and plant and floral displays," says Hariett Madigan, Chair of Clean Green Beautiful.
On July 25th and 26th, the judges will tour institutions, businesses, the municipality, and residents. To finish the tour, the judges will join community volunteers for a Sunset Cruise on The Chief Commanda II.
"The focus here is to bring the community together and collaborate with each other to make good things happen. " Madigan told BayToday,
“Communities in Bloom is a friendly competition between cities our own size (50,000 to 100,000)," explained Madigan. 'The judges will be evaluating us on a scale of 1 to 5 blooms. Our goal is to win 5 Blooms (82 to 100%) and move up to the national competition level."
She is optimistic that the goal will be met.
"I really am. I think we'll be bumped to national for sure, We have a chance to win "Most Beautiful City" in all of Ontario for a city our size. That would be a nice feather in our cap for tourism for sure. Our CGB and CiB committee members are so amazed at the level of community participation this year and we express a huge thank you to all involved."
All this has Madigan really looking forward to the judging.
"I'm over the top excited, and really happy that the municipality is embracing us too. People are putting in plants, and weeding their gardens, and businesses and residents have just been amazing."
Here's where you can help.
CGB is encouraging everyone to feel proud of their yard and landscape by mowing the lawn, weeding garden beds and sidewalks, and keeping the area litter-free before the judges get here. You can also nominate a neighbour or yourself for Streetscapes, and a chance to win a $100 gift card from one of North Bays’ Garden Centres. Follow this link to nominate.
Communities in Bloom (CiB) is a volunteer and partnership-driven charitable organization that inspires all communities to enhance the quality of life and the environment through people and plants to create community pride. They strive to be a collaborative and inclusive organization where everyone is welcomed, feels comfortable, respected, and valued, and expects the same from the competing cities, says a news release.
For more information on the CiB program visit www.communitiesinbloom.ca.
Clean Green Beautiful North Bay is a grassroots organization. Mission to foster stewardship of our land, water, and community with a focus on raising civic pride.
