FOGO ISLAND- For the fourth consecutive year, the Town of Fogo have reached the national level in a competition recognized worldwide called Communities in Bloom. On Aug. 17, two judges spent 24 hours touring Fogo with Mayor Andrew Shea and evaluating the community based on a long list of significant criteria.
Judge Donna McIlmoyle from Ontario has been involved with Communities in Bloom for a number of years and Lewisporte native Gordon Day, an avid and knowledgeable gardener, had the opportunity to participate as a judge in the competition for the first time.
The duo has travelled across Canada to visit the national finalists in the population of under 1,000 category.
“There is a diversity in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and now in Newfoundland so judging provides many opportunities for us,” said Mr. Day.
Despite the contest name, Communities in Bloom is not based entirely on floral displays. Both judges emphasized the fact that this is only one section of evaluation out of a total of six.
First of all, the towns are evaluated on their tidiness that involves maintenance of residential and commercial areas, signage upkeep and amount of graffiti or vandalism. Another evaluation section includes their environmental action. This refers to the efforts the community has put into conservation, recycling practices and other environmentally friendly acts.
Heritage conservation is another important section that involves the preservation of tradition and cultural activities and celebrations. The urban forestry section deals with tree management within the community as well as the policies and standards by which they are protected. The judges also evaluate the landscape. This is based on their design, use of groundcovers and wildflowers, maintenance and sense of continuity. Lastly, the floral display evaluation includes the design and arrangement, maintenance and originality.
Each of the six sections are also evaluated on the community involvement, public participation and volunteer efforts. They look for the initiatives that residents take and the effort that homeowners, the municipal government, organizations and business owners prove to accomplish as they strive to illustrate the connection and pride within the town.
“It should be a blooming community in every aspect,” said Ms. McIlmoyle.
The Town of Fogo was very excited to participate in the Communities in Bloom contest. To be able to compete at the national level, towns must first win a competition at the provincial level. In Newfoundland, the province-wide competition is called Tidy Towns.
Mayor Andrew Shea added, “ The community has improved vastly since we started in with this program. It has had a very positive effect”.
He said everyone takes that extra step to make sure their yards are neat, tidy and presented well. The program is certainly a from of education and residents are now more aware of various environmentally friendly acts and see the importance of preserving their heritage and ensuring that their town radiates with pride.
Winners will be announced in late October at the three-day National symposium and awards ceremony that will take place in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Towns and cities across the globe will learn of ways to improve the efforts they have already proved to have taken and will be educated on ways to reach a higher bloom standard.
It is a difficult judging procedure that can take hours to evaluate even after the judges are done touring.
“Every community is unique and has wonderful things in it,” said Ms. McIlmoyle.
Essentially, the competition emphasizes respect for environment and overall quality of life. The Town of Fogo is without a doubt, a community to admire as it blooms with pride on many different levels.
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