Sixteen people turned out for the first Communities in Bloom committee meeting on March 15. Colleen Hannigan and Virginia Smith opened the meeting by giving some background on what the Communities in Bloom project looks for from a participating community. Barriere will be competing against communities of a similar size (1000 to 3000 residents).
Then around the table, getting comments and suggestions from everyone present, on what they feel are the most important things the committee should focus on. Suggestions included: the triangle next to the Petro-Can; doing something at the corner at the high school; general downtown beautification (from the Senior’s Centre to just past Sweetnam’s), including possibly doing something with the boarded up buildings (murals or painting the boards to look like windows); and weed-whacking along the main roads on a more regular basis.
Some of the things that have already been done, or are in the process of being done: the District is currently working on some possible adjustments to the triangle, and are in the process of arranging for signs for the parks; last year a large number of bulbs were planted around the trees in Fadear Park, which will hopefully all come up this spring; and the current Learning and Literacy ECO Park project can be included as part of the Communities in Bloom.
Several important dates worthy of note:
This year, the Barriere Clean Up Day and Free Dump Day will be on May 6.
In 2014, Barriere will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of being officially named “Barriere”.
The next meeting of the Barriere Communities in Bloom committee will be on April 12 at 3 p.m.
Anyone who was unable to make this meeting, who would like to become involved in the Communities in Bloom project, are asked to contact the District Office at 250-672-9751.