The annual Winnipeg in Bloom contest is a visual example of the pride Winnipeg property owners take in beautifying their properties.
As one of the sponsors of the Take Pride Winnipeg contest, WinnipegREALTORS® presented its curb appeal award to Richard Applier, who received a framed print by Roman Swiderek entitled Winnipeg in Summer.
“I can honestly tell you, it sure creates favourable impressions when REALTORS® are showing house listings to prospective buyers and they notice what pride homeowners take in beautifying their properties and the neighbourhood,” said WinnipegREALTORS® president Deborah Goodfellow during the recent special awards ceremony at Rainbow Stage in Kildonan Park.
Applier, the owner of 7 Abraham Bay, is a previous residential area yard winner in the Take Pride Winnipeg contest. Interestingly, this year also saw the owner of 6 Abraham Bay claim second place as a new winner.
Besides curb appeal, the Winnipeg in Bloom contest includes categories such as residential, business, apartment blocks and condominiums, community effort (i.e. community centre or church), business improvement zones and the previous winner residential (first place winners in each area from the previous two years).
This year marks the 12th annual Winnipeg in Bloom contest under the theme Flower Power. The city-wide residential garden contest was originally established by WinnipegREALTORS®. In the beginning, entrants were judged on their entire yard, not just the front yard as is now the case. For practical considerations, such as the growing number of entrants, judging had to be confined to front yards. As you can imagine, not only does reviewing an entire yard take time, but back yards tend to be hidden from public view.
To allow for more contest winners and help make it a little bit easier for the judges in this daunting task, the city of Winnipeg is divided up into 14 areas. Awards are also given out to second- and third-place winners in the residential category. To see the list of 2009 winners, go to www.takepride.mb.ca.
To also encourage more property owners to do their part to beautify the city, WinnipegREALTORS® for the first time this year was involved in Brush Up Winnipeg, a program initiated by Take Pride Winnipeg and designed to make the city look better by painting the exterior of homes for those seniors unable to do it themselves.
Under the leadership of WinnipegREALTORS® PR committee chair, Shirley Pryzbyl, a volunteer team of REALTORS® and WinnipegREALTORS® staff went out on Saturday, June 13, to paint the exterior of a senior’s modest bungalow in North Kildonan.
Winnipeg in Bloom is a stepping stone to Communities in Bloom, a program that runs from coast-to-coast that encourages friendly competition amongst similar-sized Canadian communities. Winnipeg received recognition in this national contest in 1995, 2001 and 2005. Since 2005, Winnipeg became part of a non-competitive Friends category.
So, whether it is front yards, homes, murals or graffiti removal, hats off to Take Pride Winnipeg for carrying out a mission that inspires civic pride, raises public awareness and promotes citizen responsibility in making our city clean and beautiful.
Everyone wins in the end with more property owners getting involved in doing their part to make a difference and inspire others.