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Ironton in Bloom winning converts
Jim Williams of Ironton waters a bed of wildflowers Tuesday, July 22, 2008, that he planted on the islands on Railroad Street in Ironton.
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IRONTON -- The first year of Ironton in Bloom was an unqualified success according to several local residents and now the volunteers are gearing up to participate in the program again next year.
"We exceeded our expectations," said Randy Lilly, co-chairman of Ironton in Bloom, a program that ranks cities on areas like urban forestry and floral design and arrangements and six other categories. "The community was real supportive. The program has changed attitudes.
"We want to continue to keep improving," Lilly said. "We hope to expand it somewhat next year. We plan to continue the program year after year."
America in Bloom, based in Columbus, Ohio, is an independent, non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization dedicated to promoting nationwide beautification programs and personal and community involvement through the use of flowers, plants, trees and other environmental and lifestyle enhancements. It provides educational programs, resources and the challenge of a once-a-year competition between participating communities across the country.
Carol Allen, Ironton in Bloom chairwoman, said members of America in Bloom, the national program, were in town earlier this month to rank the city in eight categories. While flowers were one of the categories involved in the program, it was just one of the areas in which the city was ranked.
"We won't know the final results until October," she said. "We had 150 people show up for this. I've never been prouder of our city. The town looked beautiful. The streets were clean. The riverbank was clean. It was real special. It was a real good thing for Ironton."
America in Bloom representatives looked at Ironton's trees, at the city floodwall, at the floral arrangements downtown and at the entrances to Ironton, at the city's heritage, its tidiness and the amount of community involvement, Allen said. Other areas the America in Bloom representatives looked at included residential, commercial and governmental landscaping like the Lawrence County Courthouse and the Ohio University-Southern campus.
"It's an extensive audit of the city," said Lilly, who has organized the Ironton Volunteer Day when 100 people or more turn out every May for a Saturday morning cleanup of the city and floodwall area for the past nine years. "We won't get the formal write-up for some time, but the initial feedback was very positive.
"The city has been a tremendous partner in this," Lilly said. Mayor Rich Blankenship and city workers have made a tremendous effort, he said.
"We provided a lot of man hours to help their volunteers," Blankenship said Thursday. City officials also participated in the clean-up day, he said. "I think it was a success. We've received numerous favorable comments about the flower pots. The town definitely looks better."
Allen and Lilly credit Bill Dingus, executive director of the Greater Lawrence County Area Chamber of Commerce, in getting several dozen people involved in the program.
"We took a bus tour to Gallipolis, which was participating in the America in Bloom program," Dingus said. "We liked what we saw."
"It took a year for our city to buy into this," Allen said. "We had to show people, yes, we can make a difference."
Ironton in Bloom had a fundraising goal of $40,000 for the first year and collected $57,000. The extra money will be used for the second year of the program.
"Any community can participate in the program," Lilly said. "We formed a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) corporation."
There is a cost to participate, he said. An Ironton civic organization paid less than $1,000 for Ironton to participate in America in Bloom. "The kick-off was the Volunteer Cleanup Day. Maintenance is the largest expense we have."
Part of the money goes to a local nursery to water flower beds and hanging flower pots four times a week. They also use water retention pellets to keep the plants hydrated in the muggy summer weather, Lilly said.
"We'll take a month off and then start planning what we want to do next year," Allen said. "We also want to get more people involved. We want to get a chairman for the eight categories in the program."
