Warren truly blossomed this summer in the Communities in Bloom (CiB) Manitoba program.
In their inaugural year, Warren made impressive strides toward enhancing its appearance and functionality. With a bloom score of three out of five blooms, they’ve set a strong foundation for future growth.
“Most places get a score of one or two in their first year, so we thought we did a fairly decent job,” explained Warren CiB Chair Murray Scott.
CiB is a Manitoba and Canada-wide program that focuses on enhancing a community’s overall appearance and functionality.
“It is a non-profit that is run by volunteers and it is really committed at trying to foster improvement in that community,” said Scott.
Warren residents worked to improve the face of their community before being evaluated by a group of CiB Manitoba judges at the end of summer.
Judges gave Warren a bloom score based on many visual and environmental factors. These factors included the cleanliness of the community, the environmental actions pursued, heritage site preservation, forestry preservation, and general landscape beautification.
The local CiB committee featured a Yard of the Week to prepare Warren for its premier evaluation.
“We tried to encourage people to take part in the program in their own way,” explained Scott. “Every week we would go through town and selected a yard that we thought deserved the honour of Yard of the Week.”
The winning yard received a sign they could display on their lawn and was featured on Facebook and in the Tribune.
While Scott is unsure how many yards participated in the Warren CiB program, he noted the changes in the community from the beginning of summer to the end.
“We did notice that every week there seemed to be a few more yards that seem to be a little bit different than the previous week. We think people were really, really aware of the program and you could really see the general improvement of the look of yards in our town.”
For Warren’s exemplary improvement, the committee was invited to attend the provincial CiB conference, which was held in Portage La Prairie in October.
“Each community that was evaluated gave a display of pictures of the improvements of their towns,” said Scott.
Following the short presentation, each community received praise, compliments, and future suggestions. They were also handed a special certificate highlighting their bloom score for the year.
The Warren CiB committee is already planning for the 2025 growing season.
“Next year we are wanting to have a business of the week where we try to encourage business owners to try and keep their business area clean and tidy by improving the beautification of their property.”
If anyone is looking for some inspiration for enhancing the look of their yard, the Warren Communities in Bloom Facebook page has some examples of properties that participated this year.
If you have any questions about CiB, such as how to get involved, Scott invites you to message him at Murraydscott3@gmail.com, and he will be happy to assist you.
