America in Bloom Celebrates Five Years of Planting Pride

Enjoy “Life in the Past Lane” at the fifth annual America in Bloom (AIB) symposium and awards program, September 28-30 in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. AIB encourages nationwide beautification programs, personal and community involvement, educational programs, and the challenge of a friendly competition among participating communities across the country.

Anyone interested in building civic pride in their community is invited to attend the symposium. Speakers and learning tours will provide take-home ideas on how to bring together the municipal, commercial, and residential sectors in a united manner to improve communities.

The three-day program begins on Thursday, September 28 with the announcement of the eight “best of the best” awards in each of the eight AIB criteria: community involvement, floral displays, landscaped areas, environmental awareness, urban forestry, heritage preservation, turf and groundcover areas, and tidiness.

Friday features three education sessions, including a litter fashion show presented by the Keep Arkansas Beautiful Commission; getting your state highway department to work with you; and how a city can improve its AIB scores.

Attendees will then meet with teams of judges on Friday afternoon to share and learn what cities of their size are doing to improve their communities. This unique opportunity is one of the most popular events during the symposium.

Author, photographer, and international consultant Steve Foster will present the keynote presentation on Saturday. Foster will share examples of outstanding community beautification efforts he has witnessed across the world. Inspiration guaranteed!

Additional sessions on Saturday will cover such topics as urban greenspace planning pitfalls, heritage preservation tool kit, anticipating the future, student-made digital films as community promotion tools, synergy for successful community projects, and how to motivate volunteers.

Afternoon tours will provide on-site visits that use Eureka Springs as a laboratory to discuss the AIB criteria. Tour participants will learn about curbside plantings, promoting a city’s heritage and architecture, public art, pocket gardening, tree funding, entryway enhancement, and recycling.

The symposium ends on a high note with the gala banquet and awards program in which all cities are recognized and winners are announced in each of the population categories.

One of America’s most distinctive destinations, Eureka Springs is an authentic 19th century Victorian resort tucked away in the Ozarks Mountains of northwest Arkansas. It is a magical place filled with old-world charm and European flavor. Eureka Springs is the only city in the country whose entire downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The deadline to register for the America in Bloom symposium is September 15. For more information about AIB and the symposium, visit the web site at www.americainbloom.org.

OFA to hold AIB fundraisers

This year’s OFA Short Course will be a special anniversary party for America in Bloom (AIB) with four key fundraisers supporting the nonprofit organization from July 8-11. This venue is ideal for the fundraisers because OFA has provided the home and administrative support to nurture AIB from infancy.

AIB is a campaign and contest that promotes enhancing communities through beautification. In the friendly competition, communities are matched by population and evaluated on their efforts related to floral displays, urban forestry, landscaped areas, turf and groundcover, tidiness, environmental awareness, heritage conservation, and community involvement.

Organized five years ago by a floriculture industry task force, AIB has grown to engage 130 communities in more than 30 states. Collectively, these communities represent 20 million people.

Attendees (and non-attendees) can participate in and support the following:

•  7th Annual Dramm/OFA 5K Relay/Walk – 7 a.m. Saturday, July 8

Run the relay with a four-member team, run the entire 5K as an individual, or walk one noncompetitive lap. Rise and shine for fitness and support a good cause. Don’t feel like getting up that early? Your company can still support this event as a sponsor and be commemorated on signage and
t-shirts.

• D.S. Cole Growers Hockey in Columbus – 7 p.m. Monday, July 10

Got hockey gear? You can play! This is a no-check, no-slapshot event with referees at Nationwide Arena, home to the NHL Columbus Blue Jackets. This is another great opportunity for event sponsorship too.

• A chance to win $5,000 in a raffle! Only 500 tickets will be sold!

Tickets are $100 each. Although you don’t need to be present to win, the winning tickets will be drawn following Greenhouse Grower’s Medal of Excellence Awards reception Monday, July 10. Three prizes will be drawn – $500, $1,000 and $5,000.

• Greenhouse Grower’s John Deere Buck Giveaway – 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 11

A donation of $10 for three chances is suggested. You don’t need to be present to win. The winner will pick up the ATV at their local dealer. Look for the Buck in the connector between the Columbus Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency.

“On behalf of the America in Bloom board of directors, I’d like to thank the event sponsors for making America in Bloom the charity of choice during the 2006 OFA Short Course,” says AIB President Marvin Miller of Ball Horticultural Co. “Their willingness to support America in Bloom will help us continue spreading the message that plants and environmental horticulture are important for our quality of life and for sustainable communities.”

For more information about AIB, visit the web site – http://www.americainbloom.org.