Bloomin’ good time in Scugog Been there... done that... time to move on! That was the thought behind Scugog Township's exit from the popular “Communities In Bloom” program this year. The Canada wide program is dedicated to the promotion of green spaces in urban settings. But after receiving the Ontario group’s top ranking of “five blooms” for the past three years, the township felt it was time to move on. Councillor Bobbie Drew explained that the committee felt it had extracted all they could out of that program, although did not exclude the possibility of entering the provincial contest sometime in the futu “Th ittee was a little di: the decision to exit the program because they felt sea about its objectives, they wanted to maintain the initiatives and momentum,” she explained. With that in mind they decided to continue the program on a smaller scale at the local level and “Scugog In Bloom” was born. “We have just a great group of people who work well to- gether and didn’t want to let the program go entirely,” Council- lor Drew said. new “Scugog In Bloom” will mirror much of the pro- vincial and national programs and is actually already under- wat y- First off is the annual Photo Contest in which amateur pho- tographers are encouraged to submit pictures illustrating the beauty of the community. The winning photos will be featured in the 2010/11 “Scugog In Bloom” calendar as well as other promotional items. As with the national program, Scugog will hold a “Garden Contest” to encourage individuals, businesses and institutions to beautify their properties. re will be six categories in which to enter - residential, business, multi-unit complexes, industrial /commercial, church- es, schools, daycare and a new rural program for country-side private lanes. Anyone wanting to nominate their own property, a neigh- bour’s or friend’s can do so by picking up a nomination form at the township office. On July 11, the township will host the fourth annual “Scu- gog Garden Tour,” which will provide residents with an op- portunity to tour some of the beautiful properties and gardens throughout the community. Five homeowners have already signed up for the garden tour, but organizers are hoping to have a minimum of 10 prop- erties by the time it takes place. Tickets for this popular event are $10 per person and will be available at the municipal office and at Town Hall 1873 the day of the tour. Anyone wanting further information about the events can obtain it on the township's website: www.scugog.ca. J. Peter Hvidsten Focus on Scugog FOCUS - MAY 2009 37