ST. PAUL – The Town of St. Paul was awarded the top spot in the Communities in Blooms national competition, earning a “Five Blooms-Silver Blooms” rating, and was also recognized for its public art program.
Edna Gervais, a member of the St. Paul Communities in Bloom committee, said to be compared with finalists like the Town of Devon, and Ontario municipalities like the Town of Capreol and City of North Bay, is a testament to the community’s hard work.
The CIB judges rated communities on community appearance, environmental action, heritage conservation, tree management, landscape and plant and floral displays. Judges also evaluated the overall contributions of municipal councils and departments, as well as the contributions of businesses and industries.
The aim of the CiB is to foster community strength, involvement, and continuous improvement, through nurturing “environmental sustainability, enhancements of green spaces, and heritage conservation, in cultural and natural environments encompassing municipal, residential, commercial, and institutional spaces,” according to an Oct. 20 CiB press release.
Judges Colleen Stockford and Christine Isaac evaluated St. Paul. In their evaluation, St. Paul scored a total of 892.50 out of 1,000 points across all six criteria, which translates to 89.25 per cent – 0.75 per cent shy of earning CiB’s top bloom rating, the 5 Blooms Gold.
Judges also admired St. Paul’s public art program.
“The art pieces highlight the town’s history and culture, with a focus on reconciliation and Indigenous education,” wrote the judges. They also provided a special mention to St. Paul-based artist Herman Poulin, who has contributed many art pieces to the community over the years.
St. Paul’s CiB committee falls under the Champions for Change umbrella – a local non-profit focused on community improvement.
“I’m delighted,” said Penny Fox, president of Champions for Change, speaking about the Town of St. Paul not only earning its first 5 Silver-Blooms rating, but also winning the national category.
“I was quite surprised we made with just our second attempt,” she said, explaining the Town competed in the “Up to 6,000 Population” category in 2022, and earned four blooms.
Fox said she was somewhat anxious when the judges came to evaluate St. Paul in late July and there were some days when the weather was not ideal for touring the community.
The biggest benefit of competing in the CiB competition is the feedback received, which helps create a path forward to improve the community at the end of the competition.
“We take very seriously those recommendations, and we act on as many of those recommendations as we can,” depending on the time and budget, she explained. One example was acting on a previous recommendation to use LED street lights to be more energy efficient.
Several environmental recommendations were also acted upon, according to Fox, like the creation of a tree inventory and an urban forestry plan to document the types and number of trees in St. Paul.
“That was a big project,” said Fox. In 2020, a summer student documented every tree on town property.
She also recalled that in the past, judges were able to identify noxious weeds at Sunnyside Manor and action was taken.
With St. Paul winning the national competition, the next step is to compete internationally - and the St. Paul CiB committee will have to decide if competing at the international level is a step it wants to take, said Fox.
“That’s a big step,” she said.
For now, however, she asks the community to enjoy the win.