Stettler continues to sparkle as a beautiful town as it ranked high in the national Communities in Bloom competition for the third successive year.
Town of Stettler and Heartland Beautification Committee won the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association’s Landscape Award and again received status of five blooms for the category of communities with a population range 3,001 to 7,500 while Vermilion, Alberta won the crown in the category.
Winners of this year’s competition were announced and awarded at the national awards ceremonies in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Oct. 30.
“I am very excited that we achieved five blooms for a third straight year,’ said Rob Spencer who chairs the beautification committee.
“This reflects a lot of effort and recognizes the many areas in which Stettler is doing well to make our community a beautiful place to live.”
(Final judges’ scores and comments were not available by press time.)
For the landscape award, Stettler applied for separately, based on a judge’s recommendation.
“I am very pleased that we were recognized for this special award and with how well we placed again this year,” said Spencer.
“We chose landscaped areas, as we felt that much of what we do (in terms of effort, planning and activities) could be tied to this area.”
Spencer presented a range of areas and projects within the community that combine turf, trees, landscaping and hard features.
For the landscape award, Stettler ranked highest based on criteria that supports all efforts to create an environment showcasing the overall surroundings: parks and grounds, green spaces, streetscapes, and including turf and groundcovers.
Elements for evaluation included native and introduced materials; balance of plants, materials and constructed elements; appropriate integration of hard surfaces and art elements; use turf and groundcovers.
“It was a community effort,” said Spencer.
“We would like to acknowledge the efforts of our committee, town staff and the community residents for all that they do to make our community recognizable on a national stage as a great place to live.”