|
|
|
Previous Article
Next Article
Success Blooms for America in Bloom
America in Bloom (AIB) went through its sixth year of awarding cities for their beautification efforts, and Rockford, Ill., got the top prize — as winner in the largest "population category." Rockford previously won this award in 2005.
What does it really take to win the top prize? It "takes a village" and plenty of time, according to those involved in Rockford.
Efforts to beautify Rockford pre-date the AIB contest, according to Ruth Miller, director of City of Gardens, a Rockford beautification program that began in 1999 with a hanging baskets project. This year the group partnered with Swedish American Health System to promote physical fitness and community cleanliness by distributing "walk around the block" bags so locals can pick up litter while walking. The organization also partnered with the American Cancer Society and local gardening groups to plant more than 40,000 petunias throughout the community, and they worked with the Community Foundation and local businesses to promote urban reforestation.
"I heard about America in Bloom through industry peers ... about four years ago" says Jessica Salisbury, who has involved her store, Village Green Nursery, in the effort. Her store took the lead on Rockford's hanging baskets this year and also worked to spruce up the outsides of local businesses with plants and flowers. Besides making the city more beautiful, Salisbury says she uses Rockford's continuing participation in America in Bloom to land new accounts and encourage her corporate accounts to buy more flowers. "It has increased our business substantially," she says.
This would be welcome news to Delilah Onofrey, editor of Greenhouse Grower, who now helps head up external relations for AIB but also played a role in getting it started. After meeting with a board member of the now-defunct Bedding Plants International (BPI) to discuss how to "market bedding plants to cities and chambers of commerce," she wrote an editorial in 1999 proposing the U.S. launch a beautification program called "Bloom City." Onofrey says she was inspired by a Canadian beautification program that encourages reforestation, called Tree City.
"The idea [was that] not only would there be civic benefits to [creating] a nice environment, but there would also be industry benefits, as it would create more demand for flowers and landscaping," Onofrey says.
The idea took hold and BPI created an industry taskforce, which later became the America in Bloom board of directors. In 2002, the first America in Bloom contest was held with 38 contestants. Since then it has engaged 150 cities in the competition.
"It is very much a grassroots effort," Onofrey says. "It is incumbent on industry members to sign up their towns."
In the future, Onofrey hopes to increase the number of towns participating each year — especially from different parts of the country. "The Midwest has really dominated," she says, and "this is the first year we had any participation from Arizona and Nevada." She would also like to start a regional outreach program and hold beautification competitions at the local level.
Onofrey, however, is pleased with the progress AIB has made. "Once cities do the program ... the local response is so good that that their planting continues to expand, even if they don't compete again. They build on what they have learned."
To read about the other 2007 winners and get information on how to enter, to go the American in Bloom Web site.
--Vanessa Machir
vmachir@safnow.org
Previous Article
Next Article
| |
|
|
|
