Jasper received four blooms out of five in the national Communities in Bloom program, placing the town as a finalist in its category.

Jasper was competing against municipalities in the 3,001 to 7,500 population range and was only outdone by the Town of Stettler, Alta., which was the recipient of five blooms and the winner of the category.

The results were released at the National Awards Ceremony in Quebec City, Que., on Oct. 29.

“Second in the country is not all that bad,” Mayor Richard Ireland said with a smile at last week’s council meeting. “And judges do make mistakes,” he joked.

Jasper was among 110 communities and attractions from Canada and abroad participating in both the 2011 national and international challenge of the CiB program.

In last year’s provincial competition, Jasper came out on top, earning five blooms in the 2,001 to 6,000 residents category. 

Gerry Lettner, Jasper’s CiB co-ordinator, said he was a bit disappointed when he saw this year the municipality didn’t receive higher acclaim for its environmental stewardship. He said he was especially surprised because in 2010, that was one of the things the community was applauded for in the provincial competition.

“I guess that’s just one of the areas with a little bit of discrepancy between what I feel and what the judges evaluated us as.”

CiB is a Canadian non-profit organization committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community involvement. The national program focuses on promoting the value of green spaces in urban settings.

There are provincial, national and international editions of the program that judges communities on eight criteria: tidiness, environmental action, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscape, turf and ground-covers, floral displays and community involvement.

On July 20, Jasper was judged by two volunteer judges, Diane Clasen from North Carolina and Gerry Teahen from St. Mary’s, Ont.

Following their evaluation, the pair wrote about what they saw, saying, “Jasper’s downtown is decorated with window boxes, pots and hanging baskets overflowing in cascades of colour. These displays are complimented by brightly painted banners created by students at Jasper’s high school. 

“Commissioned by the municipality, students were asked to represent Jasper in their own way. This outstanding project was truly win-win; the municipality has been refreshed by the new banners, and the students have been given the opportunity to showcase their pride in their community.”

During their visit, Clasen told the Fitzhugh that she was impressed by how tidy the community is.

“I’m amazed at how many people are coming through here, and how clean it is,” she said. “When you’re the next person coming through, it’s like you’re the first person coming through.”

The judges were also impressed by the community garden on Connaught Drive and the number of people who walk or bike rather than driving.

“That’s certainly encouraging from an environmental point of view,” Teahen said during his visit.

George Krefting, Jasper’s municipal manager, said although the community didn’t take the top prize, the efforts to beautify and tidy the community were well worth it.

“We did, I thought, very, very well,” he said, noting that the results are just a push for Jasper to do even better next year.

Lettner said although the decision to compete again next year hasn’t been set in stone, he’d be surprised if the municipality decided not to.

“We have great support, great community spirit and pride and this is just another way of showing it, so we’ll move forward and I’m sure that we’ll be very successful in the future as well.”