Officials from Communities In Bloom visited Eckville to evaluate and judge the town in a variety of categories including urban forestry, tidiness and natural conservation.
The Town of Eckville first entered the Communities In Bloom (CiB) competition in 2017, though at that time the town entered in the novice, non-judged category.
Recognizing the positive community aspects of the Communities In Bloom competition, Deputy Mayor Colleen Ebden and friend Sandi Hallgren, urged the Town of Eckville to enter the competition competitively in 2018.
On the morning of July 26, the Town of Eckville welcomed CiB judges John Holder and Ben Tymchyshyn.
Ebden and Hallgren drove the judges around town and visited a number of Eckville locations including the Eckville Cemetery, a memorial tree and the Community Garden.
When asked if the morning went well Ebden said she believed the day went really well.
“I believe they were impressed,” she said.
CiB judge Holder said the CiB program is more than just flowers and making a community pretty.
“It’s about the blooming of the community,” Holder said, adding “it’s really good to see how people work together for the betterment of the community.”
Tymchyshyn added to his companion’s thought and said the program is “about stewardship of your community.”
“It’s about sending an environmental message about recycling and reuse,” Tymchyshyn said.
With 16 judges visiting in excess of 20 communities throughout the province participating this year, the CiB competition is highly competitive. However, it is much more than a competition and has a great number of benefits beyond the competitive aspect for each community involved.
“There is that competitive angle that attracts attention but really what we are looking at when we look at communities is the potential, the capacity and how well a community performs and how it moves forward,” Holder said.
Ebden agreed saying a community is always growing, changing and improving.
“There’s always room for improvement; it’s an evolving process,” Eden said.
The Communities In Bloom Symposium and Awards will take place at the Clarion Hotel in Sherwood Park, Alta., Sept. 26-29.
It is at the awards the Eckville CiB committee will officially find out how they did and their score, out of five blooms, in the competition.
