The Communities in Bloom judges have come and gone, leaving praise for Sicamous’ progress while seeding suggestions for future improvement.
Sicamous’Communities in Bloom chair, Deb Heap, said although a few marquee projects were not completed in time for the judges’ visit, they left many favourable comments, suggesting the district is on its way to very favourable results next year.
Results come out in September, so it isn’t known whether Sicamous will repeat the four-bloom rating it received last year, but some of the beautification projects completed this year are already being enjoyed by the community. Heap said the judges praised the partnership with the Eagle Valley Arts Council to have the barn quilt outdoor artwork hanging on buildings around town. She added the judges were also impressed by the way businesses supported beautification projects in Sicamous.
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Heap said more work was done to improve the look of unsightly premises this year.
On the floral front, Heap said the judges noted there were few flowers in the district’s self-watering planters. She said the planters are a low-cost, low-maintenance and environmentally-friendly alternative to flower-packed hanging baskets which can survive abrupt weather change better.
“You get the hanging baskets and if it either gets really wet or really hot and dry, it’s really hard to keep them looking good, whereas the self-watering planters if you get good plantings in those you’re a lot more likely to do well I think.”
Heap noted plans are in the works to add more low-maintenance flowers to the planters and to make hanging baskets available to businesses for the beautification of their properties.
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As in previous years the judges were complimentary about the involvement of local First Nations in the beautification projects. Heap said George Dennis and Edna Felix from Spaltsin joined the judges on the tour of Sicamous.
Heap said communities in bloom received a lot of help from volunteers, local businesses and the District of Sicamous to get the concrete pad finished between the Sicamous Legion and the cenotaph. She added it will improve the legion’s ability to host its Remembrance Day ceremony and also this year’s Fungi Fest, which has moved to the legion from the Red Barn. According to Heap, Sicamous has also expressed interest in hosting the 2020 Communities in Bloom Awards.
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