A Bronze rating from Communities in Bloom could be on the horizon for the Madawaska Valley.
Faith Archer and Debbie Marshall sat down with Moose FM to go over the results of this year’s CiB. The township received 5 blooms for the second year in a row. Marshall and Archer believe that they can do better and achieve a bronze or even a silver rating. Madawaska Valley scored 82.9% this year, which is up from last year. A community must score an 84% to be awarded a Bronze Rating
Among the highest scores in the community was in landscaping. The committee took the judges on a Boat tour could see the damage from flooding and repairs that had followed. The judges were also impressed with the quality of the water in Kamaniskeg Lake. Another strong showing was in urban forestry. Archer said even though the town is in cottage country, the judges were impressed with what was being planted in local parks. They said the Madawaska valley still has old forest while having logging industry that provides jobs. The judges said it showed well on the township’s forest management. The committee said that if anything could be improved upon, it was in the heritage portion of the score.
The judges also heaped praise on the gardening community in the Valley. Archer and Marshall wanted to give a thank you to volunteers, the Girl Guides and the Horticultural Society. They also thanked the BIA for providing hanging baskets and ground planters. They also wanted to thank Home Hardware, the Co-operators, Lions Club and Bayberry Design. The committee will begin meeting again in January to plan out next year’s bid for five blooms. They will also be touring other towns that competed in the population category to see what they could learn to do better next year.