Tignish in Bloom
West Prince community a national champion a second time in five years
The Tignish delegation that attended the Communities in Bloom symposium and awards ceremony in Ottawa on the weekend was still vibrating with excitement on Monday.
The Tignish delegation that attended the Communities in Bloom symposium and awards ceremony in Ottawa on the weekend was still vibrating with excitement on Monday. On Saturday, the four-person delegation - Jamie McHugh, Karen Gaudet-Gavin, Garth Davey and Roger Gaudet - went up on stage during a gala dinner to accept the town’s award as champion of the Class of Champions Small Communities category. Communities in Bloom national judges had visited Tignish in July and scored the town five blooms and a gold rating. A gold rating requires a score of 90 per cent or higher. Tignish scored 908.5 out of 1,000 when its marks for tidiness, environmental awareness, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscape and floral displays were tallied up 90.85 per cent.
The delegation went to Ottawa hoping to score five blooms and at least maintain the bronze rating it received when it won the national title for communities with populations under 1,000 in 2013.
This year they were in a Class of Champions with populations of up to 4,500. Also in the running for the national title were Pugwash, N.S., Kinistino, Sask. and Ashcroft, B.C. Gaudet said he was “pleasantly surprised” with the rating. Gaudet-Gavin said recent improvements in the town, like the district heating project undertaken by Tignish Initiatives, the town’s work on a new lagoon, a splash pad for children at Bicentennial Park and a tree-planting project students undertook at Tignish Elementary School, caught the judges’ eyes.
In fact, the tree project earned the town special mention
from the judges for youth involvement.
School principal Mike Ellsworth said he is pleased outside sources are recognizing the things students are doing in their community. McHugh, who has been overseeing the town’s beautification efforts since 2004, said her heart started pounding as soon as the Class of Champions category was announced. And when it was announced, “The winner is, ‘The Town of Tignish,’ I was…’Woohoo!’” she recalled her excitement. “I wasn’t shocked that we won; I was more enthusiastic about the gold,” she said. “Garth and I were saying that all summer, ‘wouldn’t it be great to win gold at the 150 in Ottawa?’ And we did!” McHugh said much of the credit is due to community buy-in. She said residents are more aware now of Communities
in Bloom than they were just a few years ago. She’s regularly asked landscaping questions and about trees.
“All summer long, if they see Judy (Doucette) and me working, or just Judy alone, or myself, out in the street, they stop and they want to talk about Communities in Bloom,” McHugh said.
All that interest and pride, she added, “it’s making Tignish a better place to live.” Gaudet-Gavin said the judges did take note of the pride residents take in their properties.
Having now won national titles in two categories, the next step for Tignish would be to compete in the international category.
“It’s a jump,” McHugh acknowledged, “but I know we have good bones within our program right now. We didn’t get gold for doing nothing.”
She is hoping the town will stick with Communities in Bloom either in competitive or
non-competitive ways.