By Aaron Schulze

Melfort Communities in Bloom ‘sickened’ after fountain vandalized

Oct 3, 2018 | 5:00 PM

A fountain on Melfort’s Main Street was left in pieces after vandalism late Friday, Sept. 28 around 10 pm.

The vandalism about a week after Melfort was given five blooms in the 2018 Saskatchewan Communities in Bloom program, finishing first in cities with a population over 5,000.

Peggy George, Secretary and Treasurer for Melfort Communities in Bloom, told northeastNOW the convenient timing of the act doesn’t matter.

“I don’t think it would matter when it would happen,” George said. “Whether we had been awarded a hundred blooms or two, we were all sickened, disappointed, frustrated, angry, and heartbroken.”

Whether the fountain was destroyed to the point it can’t be used anymore won’t be figured out until the spring, as the city has cleaned out all the water for it to be safe standing in the winter, and George said the Communities in Bloom didn’t want to make the city go through the process again.

Weekend hockey

PAGC set to host largest Senator's Cup tournament to date

Apr 26, 2024

Riderville

Riders Have Options Heading into Tuesday CFL Draft

Apr 26, 2024

Firearms motion

Carrot River Valley MLA's motion on firearms owners' rights passes unanimously

Apr 26, 2024

George said the fountain cost $7,000 without factoring in the cost of labour or maintenance, so the Communities in Bloom hope it will work in the spring, so they can put their funding to other projects.

“As in the past where we had things happen to our projects, this won’t deter us. We will move on, pick up the boot straps, and keep on going,” he said.

George said the Communities in Bloom handed surveillance video of the incident to the RCMP and an investigation is underway.

aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow