“The Best Bloomin’ City in the Wilderness”, is the mantra with which we began these columns four years ago as Communities in Bloom – Dryden.  As our Committee winds down it is time to give thanks to all of those citizens who assisted us.  With three 5 Bloom Provincial wins and one 5 Bloom National win the City has earned that title, especially now that the hanging basket initiative has made it so visibly true.

2010 was a very tough year for our Adopt-a-Planter pots.  But we had a small group of hidden volunteers we called the “Flower Power Team” who weekly came out to rejuvenate the struggling plants. It is these unsung heroes who kept our City boomin’ for the Centennial and whom we want to thank most profusely.  The Flower Power volunteers were Mary Barrett, Helen Boyce, Tricia England, Janine Landry, Debby Latimer, Heather Patterson, Janice Radburn, Dixie Robinson, and Susan Vincent.

Next we want to thank the sponsors of the 100 adopt-a-planter pots and baskets. This program grew from 25 pots in 2006. Most of those original 25 sponsors are still a part of this year’s 100 and to those businesses we say a special thank you.

To The Observer we owe you a deep sense of gratitude. This is the 65th Communities in Bloom article our community newspaper has published since the first one in late 2006. To Roy Wilson, the publisher and the various editors, we want to acknowledge your generosity in providing us with so many column inches of space over the past four years.

Similarly, we owe our local radio station CKDR much praise for the many ways in which they publicized our many events over the years.

Tribute also goes out to City Parks staff, from Marj Larsen who got the program off to a 5 bloom start, through Rose Cronley who filled in so tirelessly during 2008 and to Jennifer Francis and Chris Gadd in 09 and 10 plus the whole team at Parks and Grounds who did so much to enhance the City’s appearance.

We are also forever indebted to the businesses, organizations, and individuals who partnered with us during the four years of competition to ensure the Judges learned how progressive a community we are and saw the very best that Dryden has to offer.  We especially want to thank the Dryden and District Horticultural Society for assisting us with the Showcase of Gardens Program and for their ongoing financial support.

Most importantly, however, thanks must first and foremost go to you the residents of Dryden who by your participation deserve the highest of accolades. Truthfully, Dryden’s National win belongs to you, for without your cooperation it would have been impossible to achieve.

Finally it is time to thank the members of the small volunteer committee who over the years donated time and expertise to the CiB endeavor. The current committee consists of chair John Borst, vice chairs Sharon McGillivray and Anne Sikkema, Alison Dove, Suzanne Borst and Bill Vincent. Others who served in the past are Gerry Oliphant, Doug Pronger, Kathy Boone, Karl & Millie Lang, Kailey Divers, Marcy Gwynne, Andy & Rene Churchill, Don McDonald and Carol Peterson.

In going back to our very first column, I was rather surprised how accurately it foretold what CiB–Dryden was to achieve. It was titled “Communities in Bloom City Set to Soar” Indeed, it did “soar” higher and faster than we ever imagined.

And so with this our 65^th column, we the current committee say farewell.

October 22, 2010 (Communities in Bloom Dryden, Ontario, Canada)

The Communities in Bloom – Dryden Committee ran the following advertisement in the Dryden Observer on October 21, 2010.

The ballots have been mailed out. The all candidates night is history. The Dryden Observer has published its candidate platform issue and Communities in Bloom has posted responses from each candidate regarding that program.

So now it is our duty as citizens to ensure that our ballot is filled in and returned to City Hall.

(Disclaimer: the variations in the above graphic are not meant to present a bias towards any candidate. The variations are due to the simple mathematical logistics of the original signs and/or the absence of signs for five of the councilor candidates)

September 30, 2010 (Communities in Bloom – Dryden Ontario, Canada)

Editor’s Note: The following was published in the September 29, 2010 edition of the Dryden, Observer under the headline “Should CiB-Dryden Compete Nationally”.

In 2006, City of Dryden Council, by resolution made a decision to enter Canada’s Communities in Bloom friendly competition. This they correctly saw as a way to enhance the City’s civic pride and economic attractiveness.

In response the City Manager assigned responsibility for the implementation of the 2006 effort to the Manager of Parks and Grounds, who quickly gathered together a number of volunteers to assist in organizing the judge’s first visit.  It was an effort which would result in the first of Dryden’s 5 out of 5 bloom scores.

The following year, 2007 was equally successful but by October a crisis was brewing. During that year leadership for the effort had been transferred to a community volunteer. Even though the committee had the temporary support of a grant worker the creation of the community profile book and its support documentation was so onerous that the then chair decided not to continue in that position into 2008. As often happens with volunteer groups no one else wanted to come forward.

As a result, it was nearly March before the structure which has taken us through ‘til now was put in place. But just as the 2008 effort was about to begin, the City’s Park’s and Grounds department lost its manager and the position was not filled. This left Dryden in the unique position of Communities in Bloom being a 100% volunteer effort, which as we discovered is very unique within the CiB experience.

Fortunately, the now small group of six citizens were all former middle and senior management types with a flair for creativity, organizational management and most importantly the skill to thrive on independence. It was immediately apparent we needed to ask the community at all levels to participate in this process if we wanted to maintain our standing.   We launched various media campaigns and in that year began to run this newspaper column year round and you responded.

As a result in 2008 Dryden again scored 5 blooms and then in 2009 surprised everyone by winning the 5000-8000 population category at the National level while continuing to earn five blooms.  This unexpected win left us with a bit of a dilemma. Unknown to anyone but ourselves we had made a pack to drive Communities in Bloom until the end of 2010, our Centennial year; the year we had designated as the year we would win at the national level.

The upshot is that we used 2010, to demonstrate to CiB Canada and the Dryden community the meaning of a “Circle of Excellence” program by beautifying the City in this Centennial year.  This we did by adding hanging baskets to our Adopt-a-Planter (AAP) program. Never in the five years that we have sold AAP sponsorships, have the pots brought forth the raves received for the baskets, especially those on the highway. For the first time citizens have seen the ability of flowers to enhance a community’s economic attractiveness.

Five consecutive 5 bloom awards, a national win, and 100 adopt-a-planter sponsorships in 2010 are our legacy as we want to inform you, the citizens of Dryden, that we have in a letter to Mayor and Council confirmed our intent to hand the Communities in Bloom program back to City Council and City staff, a position we first broached last April.

CiB-Dryden Letter to Mayor and Council

What we have learned over the past three years is that an all volunteer CiB is the “odd-man-out” organization.  In the most active long lasting participants, the program is either driven by a Committee of Council or a Committee encompassing all staff departments, chaired by a member of Council. That is the profile CiB has in the most successful cities.  Given the maturity of our Dryden Program, it is time that the City become more involved if Dryden is to compete again at the National level or move on to the International level.  Our 2009 judges certainly indicated that we could, with further development, participate at the International Level.

We are sending a message, if this City wants to take Communities in Bloom to the next level in either the new 7,500-10,000 category or in International competition, it is going to have to invest more money, council time and staff effort as well as volunteer time to be a success.  During the past two years, we have already created what we call a “Flower Power” team of volunteers to deadhead and care for the adopt-a-planters. This and our expertise will, I’m sure, continue to be at our City’s beck and call.

With this as an election year, both the question of CiB’s continuation and the nature of its structure and funding will be up to a new council. We have asked all councillors to respond to three questions, the answers to which we will post at our www.cibdryden.ca website.

They are:

1. Are you in favour of the City continuing to participate in the Communities in Bloom program at the national level?
2. If yes, do you believe that the city should continue to finance that participation at about the same level or at a greater or lesser level than has been done in the past?
3. Do you support greater involvement and participation of City staff in this competition or do you believe it should be driven by community volunteers only?

This is the second-to-last column we will write but it is perhaps the most important column we have ever produced. It is now up to you the voting citizens of Dryden to determine how this community initiative will continue. Of course, we hope you will choose to continue to make Dryden, “The Best Bloomin’ City in the Wilderness”.

September 30, 2010 (Communities in Bloom – Dryden, Ontario, Canada)

In CiB-Dryden’s September 29^th column in the Dryden Observer originally submitted as “CiB Volunteers Hand Program Back to Council and Staff” and published as “Should CiB-Dryden Compete Nationally?” the following statement was included:

With this as an election year, both the question of CiB-D’s continuation and the nature of its structure and funding will be up to a new council. We have asked all councillors to respond to three questions, the answers to which we will post at our www.cibdryden.ca website.

They are:

1. Are you in favour of the City continuing to participate in the Communities in Bloom program at the national level?
2. If yes, do you believe that the city should continue to finance that participation at about the same level or at a greater or lesser level than has been done in the past?
3. Do you support greater involvement and participation of City staff in this competition or do you believe it should be driven by community volunteers only?

For the office of Mayor (1 vacancy)

Anne Krassilowsky by e-mail

YES….YES and YES…This program has increased our visual appearance….the program has raised our awareness of the amenities that our City has to share and offer to residents, visitors and neighbours…CIB has and continues to share the knowledge of who, where and what Dryden is Province wide. Recognition of our City and it is also a great tool for real estate professionals and tourism…tourist camp operators to use in attracting people to our city. It is a flag that should always be flown as it is a recruitment tool in itself and it encourages and challenges other communities to reach for high goals and standards within their communities. Thank for your outstanding commitment.

Craig Nuttallby e-mail

I am very well aware of the wonderful job you and the group have done for the City. I’m sure that everyone has enjoyed the beautiful blooms!

In answer to your questions, I would reply as follows:
1)    I would say a definite yes to continue with the CIB program.

2)    Yes to the City financing the program, but not at a higher level because we do have to consider budget restraints. I do feel that some spending has been out of control.

3)    And yes, I would support both City and volunteer participation. If you have a chance to go to my website: www.craignuttall.com you will see that I have worked as a volunteer for many years with both large and small volunteer groups: such as: fund raising for the Dryden Arena and Swimming Pool, the Senior’s Complex, as well as numerous other volunteer fund raising in North Western Ontario. I admire the spirit of volunteers and feel their involvement can help to keep the costs down!

If I am elected as Mayor, I would hope that you and the volunteers would continue with the find job of keeping our City beautiful. The adopt-a-planter program is a wonderful idea, and certainly helps to off-set the costs.

For the Office of Councillor (6 Vacancies)

Gary Case by e-mail

I believe that we should continue at the same level of financing and I believe that the best effort and most enthusiastic and original ideas are done by volunteers.  They are usually more motivated than employees and do a wonderful job.

Brian Collins by e-mail

As requested, I am going to try to respond to your survey regarding my feelings with regards to “Dryden Communities in Bloom” program.

I want to begin your questions by stating that the group, over the past 5 years, has achieved amazing results in our community that included provincial awards as well as the national award last year. The positive attention that the CIB group has brought to our community and raised in our community could not be bought in the market for 50 times the funds the city expended.

Having said that I hope that you can tell that I am a fan of the Community in Bloom program and very grateful to the volunteers and staff who worked so hard over the past five years.

Now for the questions.

1. Are you in favour of the City continuing in the National CIB program?

Yes I am in favour on continuing. Having said that, I also think that we might want to take the 2 year break to recharge batteries, retool etc.

1. If yes , are you in favour of the City continuing to Finance:
2. At the same level as in the past (Yes)
3. At a greater level than in the past(No)
4. At a lesser level than in the past(No)

1. Do you support a greater involvement of city staff OR should it be driven by community volunteers only?

It is my understanding that the past or current model is a combination of what you are asking.  I know that the volunteers worked extremely hard and put in a huge amount of hours, but it is also my understanding that Jennifer Francis and Chris Gadd (Marg Larson) and parks employees also have been involved.

I am in favour of this hybrid model. (Volunteers and Staff)

I really don’t think that the City would get the same commitment to CIB if it was make up and spearheaded by staff only.

Joe Delaney by e-mail

Great program and I support its continuation at present funding levels. I also believe that both elements of City participation and volunteers are needed to make this successful. In as far as additional funding is concerned, it would appear that we are headed towards times of fiscal restraint and for that reason I can’t support at this time any additional funding.

Thank you,

Mel Fisher by e-mail

I was surprised at your letter.  I think all Council share my view that your committee has done a great service to the community and take pride in your and our citizens achievement in Communities in Bloom.  I know this achievement has already become embedded in the many ways we promote our community to outsiders and other agencies.  Obviously we have been remiss in not adequately communicating our enthusiasm and gratitude back to the volunteers.

This kind of thing is always better if done by dedicated volunteers than by paid staff, but certainly the city can and should provide assistance with bureaucratic matters as needed.  I consider we have gotten very good value for our small investment of tax dollars and would certainly support continuing the program.

I know about volunteer burnout, and it would be my hope that your committee can find new legs to help carry on with the job

Richard J. Jonasson by e-mail

I am in favour of the City to continue to participate in the Communities in Bloom program at the national level.  I believe the City should continue to finance at the same level but not greater, as I feel there are enough groups and or organizations within the City that would take pride in this enhancement of Dryden.  I do not support the greater involvement and participation of the City staff in this competition.  For the reason being for the tax increases for which the town has been going through and to maintain a stabilized budget.
Thank you for this opportunity to comment on this issue.

Martin MacKinnon by e-mail
I totally support a program that enhances the appearance of our community and brings recognition across this country. I believe that the City should endeavour to maintain this program at its current level at least, given the trying economic times we find ourselves in. I also believe that City staff should support this volunteer program to the best of their abilities.

Thank you

Ken Moss by phone

There are a lot of things to look at when you are elected to city council. At this point I do not know the extent to which the Communities in Bloom program should be funded or the extent to which it should expand especially through staff involvement.

The situation is I think very tight but maybe Parks could do more. The talk at the coffee shop is that the city is spending a whole lot on flowers.

Adam Riley by e-mail

Personally I want the Communities in Bloom to continue at the National level, it’s a great program that adds a flare of natural colour to the city. I will support giving financial assistance to CIB on only one condition, a condition that from what I have been told has been practiced for years, which is that financial accountability is maintained and progress reports on how the City’s donation is being spent are presented for public inquiry. I believe that City Staff should be able to assist when needed, by say doing the plant watering rounds. Quite possibly there could even be the chance to convince Dryden High School to create a horticulture class and get the students involved in gardening.

Krag Schmidt by e-mail

Yes I would support this program. It is a very good program and anything that gives our great city exposure is a good thing. I would like to keep funding at least at the level now or increase if possible, and I would support greater involvement from city staff as long as there would be no negative impact on other programs or work.

Mary Trist by e-mail

Yes, I am in support of the Communities in Bloom program at the national level.  Based on the fundraising abilities of the volunteers, it is evident that the community supports the program, therefore Council would be remiss not to fund Communities in Bloom at least at the current level.  I also believe city staff should participate as an equal partner with the volunteers where it applies.

On a personal level, I’d be interested to discover ways that the program can highlight and promote environmentally friendly horticultural practices.

Thanks for the questions!

Mike Wood by e-mail

I have always and will always support Communities in Bloom.  I look forward to discussing the ways in which CIB can continue without an increased financial implication to the city and the taxpayers who are at their limits.

September 28, 2010 (Communities in Bloom, Dryden, Ontario, Canada)

Each year for the past four years Communities in Bloom – Dryden has hosted a “Showcase of Gardens” competition to bring attention to the many fine gardens both our residents and businesses create each summer.

Each year we have modified the categories to promote and honour different kinds of gardens. For example this year the categories “Curb Appeal” and “Community Garden” were added while the Commercial/Service Sector “Containers” and “Inground” were combined into one.

Altogether, in this year’s five categories, 38 gardens were nominated. The figures per category are: Curb Appeal – 13, Residential Inground – 9, Residential Container – 6, Commercial/Service Floral – 9, and Community Edible Garden – 1.

Again this year the categories were judged by a team of two judges, one from the CiB Committee and one from the Dryden and District Horticultural Society.  As in previous years the quality of Dryden’s gardens is exceptional.  The winners in the categories are: Curb Appeal – Eleanor Hatch, whose residence year after year we all see on Government Road/Highway 17 where the two flowered figures are out front. Residential Inground – Len and Joyce Blagdon in North Dryden. Residential Container – Wendy Wiedenhoeft on Macmillan Crescent.  Commercial/Service Floral Display – Dryden District Museum and finally our local Community Garden on King Street next to the Museum in the Community Edible Garden category.

Once again winners in the Residential Inground, Residential Container and Community Edible Garden categories will be entered into the Scotts Miracle-Gro national competition. As you may recall last year Gwen Johnson and Jim Blight (Spelling?) of Dryden won the Scotts Miracle-Gro Residential Inground category for medium size gardens. Our judges gave both 2010 residential winners extremely high scores so we know we have very worthwhile candidates in 2010. The Scotts Miracle-Gro winners are announced at the Communities in Bloom Conference and Awards, held this year in Halifax Nova Scotia October 27^th-30^th.

Communities in Bloom – Dryden would like to give a special thank-you to the Dryden and District Horticultural Society for not only helping us with the judging but also hosting the event where we announced the winners of the five categories. This they did with much pomp and ceremony at their annual Flower Show and Tea held on August 7th.

Although the Showcase of Gardens has grown very slowly over the years we know it has great potential. Many other communities have variations on the program. Some of the most successful are in Edmonton, Alberta and Kingston and Vaughan (Woodbridge) in Ontario.  With the help of the Horticultural Society we think we can grow the Showcase of Gardens to the same level as these cities making Dryden “The Best Bloomin’ City in the Wilderness”.

July 16, 2010 (Communities in Bloom – Dryden, Ontario, Canada)

Elsewhere on this website is an advertisement for Communities in Bloom – Dryden’s annual Showcase of Gardens competition. It tells in brief detail how to enter a garden into this friendly competition.

Each year the Showcase of Gardens changes slightly in the categories we use and 2010 is no exception. This is to bring new people into both landscape gardens and this year for the first time, an edible garden.

Again this year we have also chosen our categories to correspond with the National Miracle-Gro Garden Contest sponsored by Scotts. As you may recall Dryden residents Gwen Johnston and Jim Blight won the medium “In Ground” category and a gift basket of Scotts products valued at $100.00.

As a result, since one of our obvious goals is to encourage more participants, we have decided to establish a “Circle of Excellence” category patterned after our own National win in the CiB competition in 2009. We cannot enter the National competition again until 2012. Thus we have declared the 2009 winners in the Showcase of Gardens to be in the “Circle of Excellence” and we will designate them so with a sign for their lawns in 2010. This way there will not be any repeat winners in the Showcase of Gardens categories in 2010.

The Scotts’ 2010 Miracle-Gro Garden Contest continues to focus on “Residential” gardens. There are two main categories “In Ground” and “Container” floral gardens. I think the terms are self explanatory, however if you wish to see some pictures visit the CiB-Canada site.

The Miracle-Gro Garden Contest has also added a new category this year called “Best Community Edible Garden”. They describe it as, “Consideration will be given to the number of participants, variety of plants, overall neatness, sense of community involvement and spirit, and special events. Bonus consideration if crop is to be shared with others such as food banks.” Dryden has at least one such “edible garden”, The Community Garden on King St.   Are there others shared by residents of apartments or neighbourhoods?  If so, we encourage you to enter the Showcase of Gardens.

Finally, because this is our Centennial year and we want everyone, businesses, service organizations and residences to participate, we have created two more categories, one is a repeat and one is new for 2010. The repeat is the “Best Commercial or Service Floral Display” and the new one is best “Residential Garden with Curb Appeal.” Both of these competitions are to encourage everyone in the community to make their front yards, store fronts and Church/school/hall yards to look as neat and colourful as possible for the arrival of our Centennial visitors.

There is, however, one more thing we at CIB-Dryden are going to ask you to do to spruce up our city for Centennial visitors.  Please take a few minutes to cut out the weeds from our sidewalks and the edge of the curbs. Simply put the City Parks staff can’t do all the sidewalks and curbs. In fact they will be hard pushed to do the just the downtown core. So if you are a downtown landlord please look at your properties, whether buildings or a parking lot and dig out those weeds, especially the burdocks. Think of it as the equivalent of snow removal in the wintertime.

Only with your participation by keeping your own residence tidy and blooming while helping our City look its best with weed and litter free sidewalks can we show to the World we are indeed “The Best Bloomin’ City in the Wilderness”.

July 16, 2010 (Communities in Bloom – Dryden, Ontario, Canada)

Imagine a table 32 feet long and 8 feet wide. That is exactly 36,864 square inches. Now imagine giving yourself the task of filling all of those square inches with approximately 32,000 pieces of pottery.

That is the task members of the Dryden Regional Arts Council (DRAC) have set for themselves. Called “Pieces of Dryden”, the table is in reality eight 4’ by 8’ sheets of plywood which will be reassembled into an eight sided pagoda and placed at present somewhere in Cooper Park.  Note that is 4000 tiny tiles per sheet.

On Friday evening July 9^th a number of Drydenites where invited to view the progress the artists are making in creating the mosaic mural.  Members of DRAC meet regularly to assemble “Pieces of Dryden” in a donated area currently at the back of the Golden Mile Plaza.

The design is the brain child of local artist Willene Moffatt. It features a swilling swarm of colors broken by bold straight lines symbolizing our trees. Even with less than 20% of the tiles laid out on the massive canvass the work already has a magical feel about it.

Earlier DRAC asked for donations of pottery and tiles from the public. Those pieces are now sorted into colors. They are still in need of donations, particularly pieces where the color green predominates.

As colors are needed the pieces are broken and neatly cut using various means into a rough square or rectangle. But before each piece is placed on the wooden “table”, the edges are ground smooth. This appeared to be a very slow, tedious and time consuming task. Of course the step is necessary because china or glass is sharp and one already has the immediate urge to run a hand over the surface of the tiles already in place, as if a somehow to touch it, puts you in touch with the generations of people who have called Dryden home.

Running throughout the sculpture are white lines composed of narrow tiles with the names of donors to the project. For a donation of $25.00 you too can be a piece of this historic tribute to our ancestors and the future city that Dryden is in the process of becoming. Artists at the Naked North Gallery on Government Road (beside Dryden’s iconic Max the Moose) would be glad to take your donation which is tax deductable or you can call 807 223 2895.