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Communities in Bloom judges visit Estevan

Estevan’s parks and recreational facilities were on display on Wednesday when judges for Communities in Bloom toured the community. The Energy City is entered in Communities in Bloom for the second straight year.
Communities in Bloom pic
City of Estevan parks manager Rod March, Communities in Bloom judges Bonita Lundberg and Kathie Mickelson, and city parks foreman Shannon Wanner were impressed with Estevan’s appearance during a tour on Wednesday.

Estevan’s parks and recreational facilities were on display on Wednesday when judges for Communities in Bloom toured the community.

The Energy City is entered in Communities in Bloom for the second straight year. Last year it was in the entry level non-evaluated friends category, and this year it has moved into the evaluated friends category, which means that Estevan received a visit from judges, but it wasn’t competing for the coveted blooms.

City of Estevan employees toured judges Bonita Lundberg and Kathie Mickelson around the city, visiting the Garden Park on Fourth, the Estevan Soldiers’ Tree, the water treatment plant, Heritage Park, Hillcrest Park, the Royal Heights Veterans’ Memorial Park, the city’s cemetery, the Estevan Community Gardens and the Estevan Leisure Centre.

“They gave us lots of good feedback and a lot of good ideas on different areas, so I’m very thankful for that,” said parks foreman Shannon Wanner.

She was very proud of the city staff’s efforts to cut grass, pick weeds, and look after properties to ensure they were in tiptop shape.

“Everything looked really good today, so I was really happy,” said Wanner. “They worked hard to get everything looking really good for the judges.”

As part of evaluated friends, the judges will prepare a report to help with ideas for projects, securing funding and establishing a committee.

“It gives the whole community an idea of what’s needed to go into Communities in Bloom,” said Lundberg.

The judges were particularly pleased with the city’s tidy appearance and provided advice on flowers.

Lundberg said she was really impressed with the urban forest maintenance and the tidiness of the city.

“There are a lot of works in progress that I can see can be made, and can help with through being in the Community in Blooms program,” said Lundberg.

While she didn’t delve into details onto how Estevan could make improvements, since those will be included in the post-visit report, Lundberg noted changes could be made to the floral patterns.

Estevan has a good diversity of trees, and she said parks manager Rod March is doing a good job of caring for them and keeping them free of disease.

Mickelson added that she was very impressed from the moment they arrived in the city. She was particularly pleased with the city’s attractiveness.

“Everybody takes care of their properties, like industrial properties, as do all of the businesses, and there’s quite a bit of care already being taken, so it’s a matter of upping it to the next level,” she said.

Lundberg told Wanner and March that Estevan is ready to enter the competitive part of Communities in Bloom.

“I see this as a really forward-thinking community,” said Lundberg. “I was impressed. They’ve got a lot of good ideas to implement. It’s going to take time and money like any place.”

Estevan will need to form a committee of at least four to six people before it can enter the competitive component of Communities in Bloom. Once that committee is established, Lundberg said people can see the benefits of entering the program, and participating in Communities in Bloom enhances civic pride.

Committee members should have pride in the city and good ideas, she said. Lundberg suggested having someone who could have archive or scrapbook about the projects.

“That’s a really good thing, so the public can … see what’s going on, what’s been done, and what you want to do,” said Lundberg.

Wanner said she found the comments from the judges to be very encouraging. She views the comments as a reflection of a new challenge to take on in future years.

The city might not venture into the competitive realm next year, but she expects it could happen in 2020.