Communities in Bloom (CiB) judge Colleen Stockford carves CiB logo into Melfort wooden post. (Ben Tompkins/northeastNOW Staff)

By Ben Tompkins

Judgement Day

Communities in Bloom Judges leave their ‘mark’ on Melfort

Jul 28, 2022 | 2:10 PM

The City of Melfort saw two out-of-province judges visit their community on behalf of Communities in Bloom.

Lucy Chang of Ottawa, Ont. and Colleen Stockford of Sussex, N.B. evaluated the community on July 26, 27 and 28.

Chang told northeastNOW Melfort is definitely on the right track and she hopes it continues to follow that path.

“It is really a fantastic place for families to come and stay here. You have amenities for the summer, amenities for the winter, you have schools, your hospital and you have all these green spaces, it is very clean.”

While both have now done their ratings and filed their reports, the city will still have to wait quite a while to know the results.

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The national and international results will be announced in Victoria, B.C. from October 20 to 23, during the National Symposium on Parks and Grounds and the National and International Awards celebrating the ‘Year of the Garden.’

Melfort is participating in the 28th edition of Communities in Bloom in the Up to 6,000 Population category, as they compete against Petitcodiac, N.B., Chipman, N.B. and St. Paul, Alta.

The community is rated from one to five blooms based on their scores as they aim to obtain bronze, silver or gold levels in their 5-Bloom rating.

Melfort is taking part for the fourth straight year, however, the past two years have been different from other years due to the COVID-19 pandemic with judges getting virtual tours of each community.

According to Chang, there are a total of seven categories they go through when evaluating, which include overall appearance, environmental practices, community heritage, tree management, community landscape, plaque displays and floral displays.

She also added that when evaluating these items, instead of comparing them to other communities, they look at what’s being done with what they get to work with.

“Every community is unique,” she said. “We look at what resources your community has and what you do with those resources. We are here just to nudge you on the right track. Is everyone interested in taking pride in the neighbourhood around them? We hope, that in the end, what you have is a safe, secure, very green, and very vibrant, hometown.”

At the very least, Melfort needs to score 820 out of 1000 to remain in the national competition. If they win, they can move up to the international competition which features other communities like Coquitlam, B.C., and Wood Buffalo (Fort McMurray), Alta.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8