Moosomin presented with CIB awards
Moosomin Chamber of Commerce
February 3, 2025, 2:56 pm
Nicole Taylor
The 2024 Saskatchewan provincial Communities in Bloom awards were presented to Moosomin for the community’s success in 2024.
The awards were presented at the Chamber of commerce meeting last Wednesday.
Andrew Exelby with the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association presented the awards and also discussed the 2025 Communities in Bloom competition.
Moosomin has been recommended to the National Communities in Bloom program. “As a five bloom provincial winner, Moosomin has the privilege of being invited to the national program.” said Exelby.
“There are provincial, national, and international chapters of CIB, it’s all based on the Britain in Bloom program which started over 60 years ago. The Canadian organization was formed in 1994 and the first Canadian edition was held in 1995. We began co-ordinating the provincial program in 1997, and we’ve been involved ever since as the longest running provincial partner.”
“It's all about exactly how Moosomin is approaching it. It’s that grassroots approach to the program. Communities in Bloom is meant to be a marathon, not a sprint. I think that Moosomin is a really good example of a community that’s thriving and in my opinion, looks like you will continue to long into the future,” said Exelby.
The CIB program's vision is to inspire all communities to enhance the quality of life and environment, and create community pride.
“It's more than planting flowers, its about development. There’s an old saying that ‘if you look successful you’re more likely to be successful, and that applies to communities as well.” said Exelby.
The keys areas that the Communities in Bloom judge are: community appearance, environmental action, heritage conservation, tree management, landscapes and floral displays.
Community Appearance
The judges were incredibly impressed with how tidy the fire hall area and the town maintenance grounds were.
“They also noticed how beautiful the Regional Park is, and how well maintained it was. You don’t see that at a lot of places. The judges also mentioned the town’s commitment to rebuilding sidewalks every year as notable. "The infrastructure deficit is a big problem in a lot of municipalities, so a lot of times, the smaller things like sidewalks get forgotten. It’s really important to recognize this as an amazing thing for your community to be doing, and it certainly helps the appearance of your community as well.”
The playgrounds were really nice,” said Exelby, “The golf course was very impressive. We took a tour and the judges noted that it was beautifully landscaped, neatly mowed and well treed. The judges were impressed by the community overall, and I think that can certainly be reflected in your five bloom rating.”
Environmental Action
“The number of buildings that have been repurposed in Moosomin is quite impressive. Heritage buildings are still in active use, being renovated to make sure that they continue to be useful for future generations.
“Those things are really important for the overall environmental impact of the community, rather than sending all of those building materials to landfills and building new. Buildings like the Armoury are being repurposed, it’s great to keep that heritage in your community. That is the key to maintaining any heritage building, making sure it can still be used for what society currently needs.”
The judges were also impressed that the Pipestone Golf Course is using non-potable water for irrigating the golf course, and little free book houses located around tow where people can exchange their books.
Heritage Conservation
“The walking trails at the Regional Park were very significant in this area, they showcase the natural heritage of that area,” Exelby said. “Moosomin as a community in general has done a really good job of recognizing and preserving your natural heritage, it’s something that a lot of communities struggle to do.”
The judges also acknowledged the efforts with the cenotaph memorial. “A lot of work has gone into the cenotaph and it really shows, it's a very high profile area in the community.”
The judges were impressed with the Moosomin Regional Museum. “It has a lot of very unique things that are only in Moosomin, not every small town museum is like that,” Exelby said. “The fund-raising strategy of providing storage for campers and cars in the winter, is a really cool way for an organization to raise some funds. I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a museum doing that before, but it looks likes it works great because there was a bunch of campers in there when I drove into town.”
The judges noticed around town how many natural areas have been preserved within the community. “Rather than pushing down areas of the aspen parkland here, and filling those spots and building over them, there are a lot of areas in the community that have been maintained as natural and then built around. That does go along way in maintaining that natural heritage of an area, and it's cool to see.” said Exelby
Tree Management
“All three of the areas—the town, the golf course, and the regional park—all have a great variety of trees and beautiful canopies. The number of new trees being planted at the Labyrinth, Bradley Park, and other areas will create a beautiful area into the future. There is a plan for everywhere that we looked. There was a plan to have someone come in and assess their Dutch Elm Disease, that's what we want to see. It is important because if you don’t stay on top of those issues, things can get our of hand really fast.”
Landscape
“The regional park had a really good balance of natural and developed areas. There is a lot of key elements added around the entire community to soften the landscape and make the area inviting, rather than just all hardscape. The judges also noted that the volunteers at the museum really do need to be commended for their attention to the landscape and the high quality maintenance,” said Exelby
Plant and Floral Displays
“Another impressive area, not just in the obvious areas too, there are beautiful flower and floral displays everywhere,” Exelby said. “The planters down Broadway were very attractive, the golf course had flowers at every tee box, and the regional park wowed the judges again. It’s just amazing how much variety there was around the community,as well as in the homes. People in this community take pride in their own property, all resulting in Moosomin being a five bloom winner, with a special mention to community business and support.”
National competition
“Moosomin has been invited into this national edition,” Exelby said. “Moosomin can compete in its population category at a national level, and when you win at the national level, you can go into the class champions or you can choose to participate internationally. You can compete against communities all across the world. We’ve only had one other community in Saskatchewan do that, Assiniboia.”
“The national program is very similar to the provincial program, the valuation grids are the same, but its a chance to be part of a bigger, even better recognized program. The evaluation process is a bit longer, they are typically here for two days.
Whether communities are in a provincial or the national program, they can register to attend the National Community in Bloom awards s in Stratford Ontario this year. “If you’re looking for funding to attend, we’ve got grants to be able to support representation at that event and bring that knowledge back to Moosomin,” said Exelby.
