North Bay residents and businesses clearly took the North Bay Communities in Bloom slogan “Do Your Part Help Keep North Bay Clean Green and Beautiful" to heart, and now the city gets to bask in the glow of provincial recognition for its efforts.
The city is celebrating a perfect five-bloom rating, the highest rating possible following an in-person inspection of the city by Communities in Bloom judges.
See: Communities in Bloom judging 'a huge success'
This major accomplishment was announced Thursday afternoon at North Bay City Hall in front of a number of volunteers and supporters, who were told that it is virtually unheard of that a community would be honoured with five blooms, the equivalent of 830 out of a possible one thousand points.
The announcement was made by the chair of Clean Green Beautiful North Bay, Hariett Madigan.
“I am over the top proud of my community,” said a beaming Madigan.
“The judges noted that a five-bloom rating is an outstanding achievement, particularly for a first entrant such as North Bay.”
The Communities in Bloom vision is “To inspire all communities to enhance the quality of life and our environment through people and plans in order to create community pride.”
Two provincial judges were in the city for two days this past summer giving it the once over.
During those 48 hours, the judges were treated to a tour that included the waterfront, community gardens, local businesses, historic homes, and Canadore Sustainable.
The cherry on top was a sunset cruise on the Chief Commanda.
During the tours the judges kept their eyes peeled for how well the city fared in six key categories; community appearance, environmental actions, tree management, heritage conservation, landscape, and plant and floral displays.
“I can’t tell you what a thrill it was to take the judges through our whole city and see the city through their eyes. They were excited and animated and full of questions right from the get-go. All of the participants on the tour were exceptionally proud of their city. It is something I’ll never forget,” shared Madigan.
Jamie Lowery, co-chair of the North Bay Communities in Bloom committee called it magical, saying it is much more than just flowers and shrubs and trees.
“When they judge, they use the physical signs of a community to judge how prosperous, how vibrant, and how successful a community is. They dive a little deeper to see who is behind this great work. Is it the municipality? Is it the community? Is it the business? Is it institutional? And they weigh all those things to make sure that every sector is involved to make your community a success. And that is how we get evaluated.”
Lowery went on to say it “speaks to the values of your community and how successful you are when you come together as a community.
North Bay Mayor Peter Chirico congratulated the efforts of the countless volunteers who did their part whether it was picking up litter, pulling weeds, or doing some planting, describing it as “an absolute high-five.”
“This doesn’t just happen by accident. This happens by a community coming together, working together, caring for their community,” said Chirico who credited Madigan for inspiring greatness and community spirit.
“What is next? The sky is the limit. What has happened is, our community is a much better place today than it was a year ago, two years ago, five years ago.”
President of the North Bay and District Chamber of Commerce, Donna Backer says it is a clear example of what can happen when people pull together.
“I think something like this just shows the pride within the community and I think that is a marketing opportunity for the city,” said Backer.
“For the city to come together, there’s a lot of partnerships that happen, and when outsiders come in to see how we actually do things, they want to be a part of it.”
Now that North Bay has bragging rights at the provincial level, could a national title not be far off?
There are two options to be considered.
The city can continue to compete at the provincial level in 2024 knowing it can’t achieve better than five blooms, or accept an invitation to compete against other communities across Canada in 2025.
When Madigan asked the crowd for feedback, the response seemed overwhelmingly in favour of going for gold by competing at the national level.
While not everyone would agree, Madigan indicated that going national and having North Bay declared a city of excellence was the route to go.
“Absolutely, but I’m only planting the seed, not everybody agrees with that. Some people like to take it slower and I say ‘Go big or go home,’ said the dynamo.
“A lot of projects that are going on right now will be completed, that will help for sure. In community involvement we can still do a little bit better by being more collaborative with all the different sectors,” said Madigan.
Madigan will be doing some outreach to different community groups, and people can reach out to cleangreenbeautiful on Facebook or email [email protected] to let their thoughts be known.
The Clean Green Beautiful North Bay chair is looking at a spring deadline for feedback.
To view the 2023 evaluation form, click here.
