Portage la Prairie and the Southport Aerospace Centre are joining forces for the first time to compete in Manitoba's Communities in Bloom contest, aiming to showcase their shared commitment to beautification, environmental action, and community pride.
This innovative partnership marks a new chapter for the contest locally, combining city charm with aerospace heritage under the summer sun.
Cathie McFarlane, chair of the Communities in Bloom Committee for the City of Portage and Southport, explains the contest's broad scope.
"The Communities in Bloom program is a national program. We participate in the provincial version of it, and some judges come to judge our community and give us an independent view of what we could do better," she says, adding, "It's a holistic approach to how your community looks and how it comes together to create something better."
She emphasizes it's more than the name implies, "A lot of people think this is about flowers. It is a part of it, but there's just a part of it... They look at what we're doing for bylaws on cleanliness in the city... how we manage our water... and how we manage that as well."
Portage's blooming success and new partnership
Portage la Prairie boasts a strong track record in the competition.
"We've participated for a number of years, and for the last two years, we've received the full amount of blooms. They rate you from one to five Blooms - five being the best - and the last two years, we received 5 bloom ratings both years," McFarlane states.
Judges' past feedback has directly led to improvements, like enhanced maintenance of public planting beds and seasonal decorations along Saskatchewan Avenue. This year, partnering with Southport introduces a fresh dynamic.
"We were very happy that they are involved... We're really breaking ground for the Manitoba program. They've never done that before, put a joint application together," McFarlane notes.
Southport's roots in community beautification
Colby Orchard, Director of Development for Southport Aerospace Centre, expresses enthusiasm for the collaboration.
"Yeah, we're very excited about participating this year in this program. It's something we've been talking about for a while now, and Southport's been doing a lot of things on their own as far as site beautification and yard beautification throughout our community," he says, adding that, "It's great to now work with Portage and look at a holistic approach to beautifying our communities."
He highlights how Southport's existing efforts align perfectly with the contest categories, noting that, "Tree management, landscaping, yard beautification? It's all stuff that has been important to Southport for many years."
Community spirit and lasting benefits
The partnership extends beyond the contest itself. A new "Summer Spotlight" yard contest encourages residents in both Portage and Southport to beautify their properties.
McFarlane details the rewards: "Besides getting an individual gift certificate for each of the winners, they get a sign that goes in their front yard... In the fall, each of those yards... they're going to have a shrub planted in the community... to recognize their role."
In Portage, shrubs will enhance the Ukrainian plaque site at Island Park, while Southport will choose a green space. "The benefit with that is it's got a long-term benefit to the community because the shrub will be continually there," McFarlane adds.
Orchard sees the collaboration as a natural extension of the relationship between the city and the aerospace centre.
"Portage and Southport have a long history of working together, and I think it's growing year by year, so any kind of new investment or new benefit to Portage or Southport has a bigger benefit for the entire region." Orchard notes, and adds that looking ahead, "There's definitely more to come on that."
While the top prize is community pride and valuable feedback – "no physical prize other than bragging rights" – both communities hope to earn the coveted 5-Bloom rating once again, now showcasing their united front to the judges visiting later this summer.