Portsmouth competing in the America in Bloom program
Jun. 26—PORTSMOUTH — Main Street Portsmouth is planting pride in the community by competing in the America in Bloom program to be considered an in bloom city.
The program celebrates heritage, progress, and beautification efforts in a city. Prior to this year, the program earned the city the designation in 2014, with three out of three blooms. The program has changed since, and it has become more robust, covering more categories and having a different ranking system.
"The welcome packet for the judges has been filled out and it was nice to see how much progress we are making, as a community, on paper," MSP Executive Director Joseph Pratt said. "Since it is a community effort, I was able to tap into the successes of many partner organizations and friends, including CONNEX, Boneyfiddle Project, Friends of Portsmouth, Friends of Greenlawn, Shawnee State University, the Scioto Foundation, and much, much more. It can be easy to take these groups for granted, but seeing them all fill in boxes on a sheet of paper that ranks cities is really inspiring."
The program will welcome judges June 30 and July 1, escorting them to a plethora of stops along the way.
"We plan to show them all of the progress we've made in recent years, from the dog park and skate park, to the multi-use path and many museums," Pratt said.
A big section of the competition is beautification efforts, which are overseen by Main Street Portsmouth, and community cleanliness.
The program asks residents to clean their yards and properties, for businesses to shine their windows and clean their sidewalks, and anyone walking around to pick up debris or trash they come across.
"We did really well in the last round and we want to do better this go-round, especially since we have a lot more to be proud of," Design Chairwoman Sue Burke said. "We hope the community is excited to meet the judges next week and that people prepare their properties for them."
According to the America in Bloom website, "America in Bloom (AIB) promotes nationwide beautification through education and community involvement by encouraging the use of flowers, plants, trees, and other environmental and lifestyle enhancements. We envision communities across the country as welcoming and vibrant places to live, work, and play — benefiting from colorful plants and trees; enjoying clean environments; celebrating heritage; and planting pride through volunteerism."
Main Street Portsmouth is a 501©3 non-profit that inspires change through action, with a primary focus of downtown. They are responsible for downtown flowers and parks, work with the city to offer a $25,000 annual Building Improvement Grant Program, host over 50 events a year, and have recently taken to developing greenspaces, with the former renovation of Alexandria and recent 535 on Second under their belts and plans for new riverfront parks in coming weeks. For questions about the program, call Joseph at 740.464.4501
