Trail teenagers really dug into planting for Communities in Bloom (CiB) this year, and over the weekend, the city was recognized for those outstanding efforts with a Scotts Youth Involvement Award.
It all happened in Ottawa on Saturday night during 2017 National and International CiB Awards ceremony. Besides the distinguished youth acknowledgment, the City of Trail maintained its five-bloom rating and was given special mention for the Columbia River Skywalk and adjoining parks.
The Trail Times spoke briefly with Dan Rodlie, chair of Trail Community in Bloom Monday morning about the city’s win for youth engagement. Rodlie was still in Ottawa touring the capital city, including the Parliament buildings with local MP Richard Cannings.
He said various school groups including Take a Hike students helped with planting thousands of tulips bulbs around the city and they assisted with keeping the beds tidy by weeding.
Rodlie also mentioned Canadian gardening guru Mark Cullen’s visit to the city back in May.
“He went to the high school and met with the horticulture group from Crowe,” Rodlie said. “So they worked with him on all their projects … and basically (youth groups) helped with all the planting of the bulbs.”
Over the summer, trained volunteer judges travelled to participating communities to evaluate the overall contributions of municipal council and departments; industry; businesses and the private sector – including volunteer efforts – in regards to the following criteria: Tidiness, Environmental Action, Heritage Conservation, Urban Forestry, Landscape and Floral Displays.
Judges Evelyn Alemanni and Jim Baird made a visit to Trail the second weekend in July, and were impressed with what they saw.
During the two-day visit, the pair met with staff at Home Hardware (CiB sponsor). They also met with Teck Metals Ltd. environment manager Dan Bouillon as Teck is a major sponsor of the program, provincially and nationally.
The judges toured a yard reclamation site with the Trail Health and Environment Committee, drove through nearly every part of town, walked the Skywalk, visited the Colombo Lodge Archives, and took in the city’s rock walls, Jubilee Park White Garden, and Teck’s tree-planting along the highway. At the time, they noted the way Trail manages graffiti (Graffiti Grannies), composting at the city works yard, the use of biodegradable plastic bags at many Trail businesses, and the city’s parks and recreation Canada150 passport initiative.
Following their evaluation, Alemanni and Baird wrote: “Trail is a diverse city built around the mining and smelting industry in southern B.C.’s interior mountains. Trail cherishes its multi-cultural, mostly Italian and Scottish heritage, love for sports and location along the Columbia River. The Trail CiB team and the city work together on a large number of significant projects which are evident throughout the community. The most recent is the inclusion of a pedestrian and bicycle path on the new Columbia Skywalk Bridge with parks at each end of the bridge. The provision of a safe and reliable method of pumping sanitary sewerage across the river was the paramount environmental concern but the pedestrian bridge provides the citizens with mobility choices and connection to the esplanade park along the river”.
Within the actual context of climate changes and environmental concerns, the CiB organization emphasizes that communities involved in the program can be proud of their efforts, which provide real and meaningful environmental solutions and benefit all of society.
The City of Trail participated in the Class of Champions (Medium) category along with Castlegar BC, Millet, AB and Vermilion AB.
Millet won the Class of Champions (Medium) title, while Castlegar was recognized with the Scotts Turf Builder Landscape Award.