The longtime chair of Trail’s Communities in Bloom committee says he’s elated with the city’s latest win in the beautification program.
“We’re pretty stoked about it,” Dan Rodlie said. “When you get to this level, it’s pretty stringent, very difficult to win.”
Over the weekend, the city took the Circle of Champions Award at the national Communities in Bloom symposium in Fort McMurray. It required winning the provincial award, then competing against other similar-sized cities in Canada to win the national award, then competing against national award winners from other countries.
Rodlie said Trail has also gone from the bronze to the silver level for the first time. It earned its fourth trophy and highest score since it joined the program in 2002.
Rodlie said judges gave them top marks for community effort.
“Just the appearance, the litter and graffiti control we do. We lost a few points on our tree canopy especially downtown, but the other stuff outweighed the negative.”
During COVID, Trail remained a member of the program but was non-competitive.
Rodlie said 80 part-time and 20 full-time volunteers put in between 4,000 and 5,000 hours each year to make the city look its best. They receive strong support from Teck and the City of Trail, he added.
Rodlie noted Castlegar won the same award a few years and encouraged other local communities to take part.
“Rossland would be a shoo-in to win off the bat,” he said. “They’ve got everything going for them. But any community around here could get involved and learn from others.”
