(Town of Shellbrook/Facebook)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Getting Recognized

Shellbrook receives Community in Bloom award, receives positive rating from judges

Oct 27, 2023 | 6:00 AM

The Town of Shellbrook is being recognized provincially for its beauty.

The Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association (SPRA) announced on Wednesday that the town was one of three Community in Bloom winners in the province for 2023.

Mayor Amund Otterson told paNOW it came as a surprise as they’ve never considered beautifying the community as a competition.

“We have entered into this just to get some feedback and some ideas about things to do with respect to developing the flower beds, trees, and that sort of thing.”

Otterson joked that taking part in the Communities in Bloom program every year is one of the smartest investments the town has ever made. This is because they’re practically spending a few hundred dollars for a proper consultation.

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“Relatively speaking, it’s a small amount and we get good feedback. It’s the best bang for our buck that we get.”

Shellbrook was one of several communities that were in the 1,001 to 2,000 population category, however, it was the only one that was given a competition score. Otterson explained the lack of competition doesn’t take away from the award simply because the community was given a positive rating: three blooms out of a possible five.

One of the reasons Shellbrook received the grade it did was the tree-planting partnership the town has with the local golf club.

“We heard that there were some available seedlings and the golf course provided space and they were planted along a couple of fairways kind of in the rough.”

Once Shellbrook can get that rating up to a five out of five, it’ll be eligible to compete in the national Communities in Bloom program.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow