The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB) continues to blossom with involvement and opportunities.
Communities in Bloom awarded the RMWB a 5 Blooms- Silver and a special mention for Community Involvement in the 2017 International Challenge.
Over the summer trained volunteer judge’s travel to participating communities to evaluate the overall contributions from council, industry, businesses and the private sector-including volunteer efforts.
The judges evaluate on tidiness, environmental action, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscape and floral displays.
Bob Ivison and Bob Lewis were judges who visited the region and after wrote that the community offers endless opportunities for outdoor activities including canoeing, boating, fishing, hunting, hiking, biking and camping.
“Wood Buffalo’s Community Involvement at all levels and across all sectors is one of the main reasons that the city has been so successful in developing a great quality of life in which to live, work and play,” wrote Ivison and Lewis. “The most significant display of community involvement was the incredible volunteer and community efforts in the evacuation and re-population of the 80,000 residents of Fort McMurray as a result of the wildfires of May 2016. This community involvement was again demonstrated in 2017 when the residents were one of the first cities to collect and deliver supplies to BC communities battling wildfires.”
There are four levels of 5 Blooms in the National and International Edition:
- 5 Blooms: 82 to 83.9%
- Bronze: 84 to 86.9%
- Silver: 87 to 89.9%
- Gold: 90% and over.
