BARRY’S BAY – Green thumbs from around the Madawaska Valley gathered at Zurakowski Park in Barry’s Bay to accept some very special awards.
On the evening of August 19, Communities in Bloom co-chairs Elser Lee Faith Archer and Debbie Marshall announced the winners of the local Communities in Bloom contest. Many people took part in the competition, Archer said, and winners were determined with the help of Communities in Bloom judges, Grace Dekker from Lambton Shores and Angela Vieth from Waterloo.
The judges not only helped identify the local winners, but they evaluated the Madawaska Valley as a whole for the 2016 Ontario edition of Communities in Bloom. The provincial results will be announced in Stratford during the awards ceremonies on September 17.
At the local awards ceremony, Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MPP John Yakabuski dropped by to share some words with those gathered in attendance. Yakabuski, who is recovering from a hip surgery he underwent four weeks ago, said he was pleased to be in attendance.
“To have something like this going on in Barry’s Bay is like the icing on the cake for what’s going on here over the past few years,” Yakabuski said. “There has been a tremendously concerted effort in this community over the last couple of years to improve the aesthetics and green the community.”
As MPP, he speaks to people from all around the province, and Yakabuski said the Madawaska Valley is getting noticed.
Get your August 24, 2016 edition of The Valley Gazette to read the full story.