Judges arriving in Cold Lake to evaluate the city’s beauty

The City of Cold Lake is telling residents and businesses to tidy up their properties ahead of the Communities in Bloom judges arriving to judge the city’s beauty.

The Communities in Bloom judges, Berta Briggs from Wetaskiwin and Larry Hall from Buena Vista, Saskatchewan will be evaluating Cold Lake on a national level on July 21-23.

In 2015, Cold Lake was awarded a 5 Bloom score by the provincial committee, which means they’re eligible to compete nationally.

The City is participating in the 25th edition of Communities in Bloom in the 7,501-25,000 population category, along with Kingsville, ON and Torbay, NL.

The communities will be rated from 1-to-5 Blooms based on the scoring obtained.

Also, they will aim to obtain bronze, silver or gold levels in their 5-Bloom rating.

Cold Lake would be judged on a long list of criteria in the categories of tidiness, environmental action, heritage conservation, and urban forestry.

The National and International results will be announced in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia from Sept. 25-28, during the Symposium and Awards Ceremonies with the theme of “Bloom by the Sea” Celebrating Excellence.

Communities in Bloom is a Canadian non-profit organization committed to fstering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community involvement and the challenge of a national program, with focus on the enhancement of green spaces in communities.

To support the educational aspect of its activities, the organization established the Communities in Bloom Foundation, a registered charity dedicated to funding, developing, and disseminating education and awareness on the value, improvement, importance and sustainable development of green spaces and natural environment in Canada.