Sooke Receives Communities in Bloom’s Highest Honour
Sooke, BC – September 26, 2011
The District of Sooke has received the highest possible honour at the BC Communities in Bloom Awards and Conference held September 23 – 25 at the Prestige Oceanfront Resort and Conference Centre. The conference, which focused on how to improve a community's bloom-rating, was attended by 55 delegates from communities throughout the province.
In July, Sooke was evaluated by the two trained judges on the eight program criteria of: Tidiness, Environmental Awareness, Community Involvement, Natural & Cultural Heritage Conservation, Tree/Urban Forest Management, Landscaped Areas, Floral Displays, and Turf & Groundcover. The Communities in Bloom judges travelled through our community, with municipal staff highlighting various new and innovative improvements to our town.
Communities in Bloom is about people, plants and pride in the community and Sooke wowed the judges with the many improvements Sooke has made in these areas since the judging last year. Sooke has competed for this honour since 2008 and has improved its score every year to ultimately achieve the 5-Bloom rating. "With such strong proponents of the Communities in Bloom program working to make this community great, the future is very bright for Sooke" said community judges Rea Smith and Shirley Culver.
Communities in Bloom is not just about flower baskets -- the judges applauded the efforts of our community’s environmental leaders including T’Sou-ke Nations, Sunriver Allotment Gardens, Carrington Place, Juan de Fuca Salmon Restoration Society, and the Woodland Creek development. They applauded the tidiness of our town, upgrades to the landscape at Evergreen Centre and the new Prestige Hotel. The judges gave special mention to the 25th Annual Sooke Fine Arts Show as it showcases the region’s artistic talents and is an amazing feat of volunteerism.
For more information, contact:
District of Sooke
tel: (250) 642-1634
fax: (250) 642-0541
www.sooke.ca