With the aim to make Fort Frances as beautiful as it can be, the local “Communities in Bloom” committee is looking for members to commit to the cause.
“The whole idea is it’s a community effort,” local “Communities in Bloom” chair Helen Crook said Monday.
“People are out there, getting their flower beds ready, working in their yards,” she noted. “But if we have them become members, we’ll be able to communicate with them, work together, and make them aware of our goals.
“We really want to make a difference,” she stressed.
Crook noted memberships cost $2 each, with dues to be used in community improvements, subject to how much is raised.
Members need not attend the committee’s monthly meetings, although they certainly are welcome.
Crook added new members will be offered “a great spring opportunity”—a chance to win a garden makeover valued at $1,000, a bird bath/fountain valued at $200, or a gift certificate for Lowey’s Greenhouses valued at $100.
Being a member simply involves committing to some type of beautification project on one’s own property, said Crook.
“You could go out and plant a few more flowers this year,” she noted. “You could plant a tree, extend a flower bed, pick up litter, plant a row of vegetables for the food bank.
“The whole thing is to make Fort Frances more beautiful one bloom at a time.”
Besides individual “Community in Bloom” members, Crook said other groups already have been helping beautify the town.
Examples include the Chamber of Commerce and Business Improvement Association’s flower baskets and planters, garden projects at various local schools, and even efforts by Crime Stoppers and Beta Sigma Phi-Phi Iota Chapter to get playground equipment at local parks.
“It all adds up,” Crook remarked.
She also noted the town will be visited by “Communities in Bloom” judges and be evaluated either in late July or early August. Last August, judges gave Fort Frances a “three bloom certificate” during an unofficial visit here.
“It was an excellent starting point, especially considering there was no preparation whatsoever,” Crook remarked. “With more people working together to beautify the town, we could get four or five blooms.
“That’s why we need a widespread membership.”
Getting a higher ranking from “Communities in Bloom” translates into more publicity for the town since highly-rated communities are promoted on the organization’s website and in nationally-distributed materials. Crook noted such accreditation also brings recognition to people in the community who have been helping to beautify it for years and years—even if it’s just been on their own property.
Other “Communities in Bloom”-related events this year will include a garden contest and a guest speaker being brought here by the Fort Frances Horticultural Society.
In the long-term, Crook added, the committee would like to run even more contests, as well as a series of supervised tours of local gardens.
Crook also noted the local committee will have a booth at the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce Home and Leisure Show next Friday and Saturday, and will be recruiting new members there.
Memberships also are available from committee members.
The committee, which is open to everyone, meets on the first Tuesday of each month in the committee room downstairs at the Civic Centre.
The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3 at 7 p.m. For more information, contact Crook at 274-5431 or Crystal Godbout at 274-3276.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
