ATHABASCA — It’s been a bumper crop of blooms this year and the perfect time to welcome back Communities in Bloom (CiB) as the Town of Athabasca looks for her third win, the first in 2005 and the second in 2016.
CiB judges Aimee Hunter and Berta Briggs met with local committee members, which is a subcommittee of the Athabasca and District Chamber of Commerce, Aug. 10 at the Athabasca Train Station for a small meet and greet and to learn more about the community asking questions about everything from the Athabasca Watershed Council to the community gardens.
“The bloom is definitely a metaphor for everything that a community needs to grow, because it does need beauty, that puts a smile on your face, but it also needs to look after the overall environment, it needs to look after the six criteria,” Briggs said when explaining the meaning behind the name of the organization.
The six criteria a community is evaluated show an overall contribution to a healthy community with the judges looking at community appearance, environmental action, heritage conservation, tree management, landscape, and plant and floral displays.
“That's where the bloom comes from, building a community that serves everybody,” Briggs said.
When going over the criteria, Briggs discussed which were the most difficult areas to achieve. While communities typically put a heavy focus on cultural heritage, they often leave out natural heritage, the area of heritage that shows the health of the environment the community is in.
“For Communities in Bloom, you need balance in all of the criteria. The difference [in Athabasca], and what I like, is the discussion around grassroots,” Briggs explained.
Briggs found that citizens involvement within the community truly sets Athabasca apart.
“It’s not town council or a committee that is telling the people ‘you have to do this,’ it's coming from grassroots,” she said. “People are looking at ways that they can make a difference in their own lives that's also going to make a greater difference.”
For 23 years, Briggs has been a CiB judge, assessing communities at a provincial, national, and even international level.
“I was approached back in 1999 about doing some provincial judging. My background is at a greenhouse gardening centre plus I've always been very involved in my community,” Briggs said.
While Briggs has judged Athabasca before, her counterpart, Hunter, has only been a judge for two years, making this her first visit to Athabasca.
“Think of a wealthy community, and you think of florals and colours. If it's not a wealthy community, throw in some flowers and it just makes people think of potential right off the bat,” Briggs explained.
The Town of Athabasca put a lot of time and effort into their florals with the annual municipal budget averaging $35,000 for planters and maintaining them along the river front and downtown core as well as tree maintenance and replacement.
The following day, Aug. 11, the judges and a few select individuals toured the town covering about 50 kilometres as they wound their way through the community. At a few of the locations they toured, different volunteers and representatives met the group to ensure the judges had all the information they needed.
In 2021 Swan Hills was a 5 out 5 Bloom winner while Barrhead got put in the friend-zone with four other communities which weren’t evaluated but made the cut based on support.
Alberta community winners will be announced in September with a date to be determined, and the provincial and national winner at the CiB national awards and symposium Oct. 16 to 19 in Victoria, B.C.
