Jasper’s Communities in Bloom Committee has a plan to keep the town spotless all summer long, and all it requires is 20 minutes of community involvement each week.
They’re calling it Tidy Up Tuesday.
The weekly clean-up is the committee’s way of engaging residents in the ongoing beautification of the town, by encouraging community members to spend 20 minutes each week picking up trash, pulling weeds, sweeping the sidewalks, cleaning the gutters and sprucing up unsightly back alleys.
The first clean-up is May 12, beginning at 2 p.m.
The committee hopes that in the weeks to come, the weekly scrub down will become a habit for residents and business owners.
“We want everybody to get involved,” said Colleen Green, co-chair of Jasper’s CiB committee.
“The downtown core is obviously the priority, just for the simple fact that that’s where the majority of the tourists are and where the garbage tends to gather, but it would be nice to see a lot of the residential streets taken care of as well,” added Shannon Greer, the committee’s second co-chair.
“We’re trying to instill that sense of pride in the town to really bring the community together on a common goal of keeping this pristine town of ours even more clean.”
The municipality has signed on to do its part, dusting the central business district—from Hazel Avenue to Pyramid Lake Road—with the street sweeper once a week.
The inspiration for the weekly scrub down is the international Communities in Bloom competition, which will once again see judges descend on Jasper to rate the community on its tidiness, environmental action, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscaping and floral displays.
CiB is a Canadian non-profit organization committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community involvement.
Jasper has been competing in the Communities in Bloom competition since 2009 and has been recognized at the provincial and national levels. This year will mark the town’s third attempt at the international level.
In 2013 and 2014, the community was awarded five blooms—the competition’s highest distinction—but it was out done by communities that tallied higher total scores.
This year’s judges, Lorna McIlroy and Ted Zarudny, will tour the town July 27, meeting locals and sharing in all that Jasper has to offer. They’ll visit everything from the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives to the waste water treatment plant and everything in between, as well as take part in a welcome reception.
To keep up to date with Jasper’s CiB committee, check out their page on Facebook by searching “Jasper Communities in Bloom”.
Nicole Veerman
[email protected]
