September 16 was the date for the national award ceremonies for Communities in Bloom, held this year in Ottawa-Gatineau. Boissevain was involved in another new category in 2017, with a range of others as well populated as Toronto. Despite the challenge, the community again did very well in the non-competitive category, gaining top rating.

As well, the Communities in Bloom honoured Mayor Ed Anderson, giving him five blooms for Community Dedication.

Boissevain-Morton Councillor Judy Swanson said the local CIB organization wanted to honour some of the people who had contributed so much to the program at many different levels. There is no one who deserves this more than Anderson, who has pushed for beautification tirelessly in this community for his entire mayoral term.

Barry and Sheila Chinner represented Boissevain at the ceremony this year. Sheila said it was a great experience.

“Other communities are definitely impressed with Boissevain,” Chinner said. “This is not the first time we have been represented at the national level, so we are not an unfamiliar community to be mentioned. And everyone has such a high regard for Ed.”

“I thought the event in Ottawa was wonderful,” stated Chinner. “You get the feeling Communities in Bloom is more than our community, that it is really a national program.”

She added they had been to another ceremony a few years ago in Saskatoon.

In the past, the community was judged on a five-bloom scale. It was similar in 2017, but instead it was “five-leaves” in the Canada 150 category. Chinner said it was based on the maple leaves for the special birthday. At any rate, Boissevain received the top five-leaf rating.

In fact, Boissevain reached the best of the best. As well as five-leaves, they also received a gold medal for a total score over 90%. Overall, this pleased Boissevain-Morton Councillor Judy Swanson.

“I was delighted,” she said. “We did very well. It was a non-competitive category, but we were graded anyway. It’s something we can be proud of.”

As well, the community received special mention for the ArtsPark. This is always a major point with the judges who visit, as it is a beautiful spot maintained by hours and hours of volunteer labour. The two judges this year, Larry Hall and Marylaine de Chantal, had this to say about Boissevain’s special park.

“ArtsPark in Boissevain is something special, from the very well done entry through the well maintained paths to the exit at the back of the park. The entrance has a very noticeable wooden artsy sign identifying the park. Different gardeners are planting and maintaining various sections of the park each with its own focus: butterfly gardens, perennial beds and even a 100 acre wood where children are always moving Mr. Owl, so no one ever quite knows where he will be at any given time. The garden contains tree houses and 4 unique pieces of public arts depicting the four seasons with what might have been scrap metal, all of which can be viewed from the gazebo in the centre of the park. Residents often have coffee breaks in this gazebo to relax and take in the beauty created by fellow residents. This special park is a heart stroke. Congratulations to the volunteers!”

“The judges were really impressed with the ArtsPark,” Swanson said.

Mayor Ed Anderson said the results were a real feather in the community’s cap. He felt the Chinners’ were a great pair to send as representatives, and Boissevain-Morton made its usual splash. He toured with the judges when they visited in July and had an inkling the town would do well this year.

“I felt they were really impressed with Boissevain,” Anderson explained, “with the volunteer work that goes on in Boissevain. It certainly is an attractive community and everything worked out very well.”

Boissevain was not the only local spot to do well at the ceremony. The International Peace Garden was in the Special Attraction category and received five-blooms. They were also judged by Hall and de Chantal. Peace Garden CEO Garry Enns said there were many benefits from their visit.

“The five-bloom result from the judges is obviously what all who enter the CIB evaluation strive for,” Enns stated. “It meant we did better than last year, yes, but the detailed evaluation also gave us many suggestions on how we can improve. We are especially pleased because of how dry and difficult this summer has been. The judges were quite complimentary when they were out in July, but they gave us no hint of the result. In fact, they would not have known the final tally until after they had reviewed their notes following their time with us.”

The Peace Garden received a special award for their 150 Maple Leaf floral display. Enns said it came from Connie Lagerquist seeing the 150 logo and thinking that would be very appropriate for this year. Enns said it did not work as well as they hoped, but it was a great tribute to the sesquitennial.

The Garden had hosted a very successful provincial version of CIB the weekend before, which featured Don Vitko of the cactus collection as keynote speaker. Being involved with the organization is important, Enns said.

“The Communities in Bloom is an excellent network to work with as we promote the International Peace Garden ‘Special Attraction’. It’s also a wonderful resource and provides ideas and insights that come from an extended community such as this. We look forward to participating in future Communities in Bloom events and activities, and hope to extend our CIB activities to Bottineau and other American communities and their networks.”

Chinner also feels there are great benefits to Boissevain being involved in Communities in Bloom. The community is definitely noticed by those involved in the program.

That high regard was rewarded by Communities in Bloom this year, as Anderson was given five-blooms for Community Dedication. Swanson said the organization wanted to honour some of the people who had contributed so much to the program at many different levels. There is no one who deserves this more than Anderson, who has pushed for beautification tirelessly in this community for his entire mayoral term.

Those involved honored him with his award and thanked him for his long service at the Sawmill on Thursday evening.

by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff

Photos by Anna Latimer