Slippery Rock in Bloom showcases floral displays
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — People who take lunch in Memorial Park or walk past it for a moment of quiet reflection might notice a lush tapestry of flowers and verdure around the monument. Splattered in mud and rain, volunteers in May planted nearly 1,000 flowers in the park and pots of greenery throughout the borough the weekend before Memorial Day.
Their efforts to spruce up the town as part of Slippery Rock in Bloom were spearheaded by the Slippery Rock Rotary and culminated in a two-day evaluation tour by America In Bloom judges that kicked off Thursday, July 20, and continues Friday. The floral displays will be judged in a countrywide competition in which Slippery Rock will be ranked against other communities its size across seven categories: overall impression, environmental awareness, heritage preservation, urban forestry, landscaped areas, community vitality and floral displays.
The environmental program shows how the categories underscoring history, sustainability and community are all interrelated, said judge Barabra Vincenben.
“Let’s say you have a historic building that was a farmhouse in disrepair and people decide that this is not all right, and they come together to save the history,” said Vincenben. “We can use it for all kind of things. We can use it for community gardens, we can use it for display of native species … you know what, you have 80 acres, we can use that for trails. And the next thing you know, community vitality comes in.”
In 2018, Slippery Rock was awarded first place for communities of its size. This year, coordinators said they feel the pressure to maintain the record. They’ll receive a scored report in October, said Regina Greenwald, chair of Slippery Rock in Bloom.
Judges, who are called advisers, will provide coordinators with constructive feedback, Greenwald said. Their input will help the committee consider different perspectives on how to improve across different categories, she said.
Besides being a way to strengthen and beautify the community, the environmental program is a “great economic development tool,” said Connie Baggett, America In Bloom judge.
“Even though they’re different, diverse regions of the country, everybody’s facing a lot of the very same problems,” Baggett said.
Baggett said that her community in Brewton, Ala., has participated in America In Bloom since 2014.
“We were able to lift the way our town looks and bring a lot of different people together, improve parks, improve amenities to make it more attractive to people of all ages,” she said.
Baggett said an information technology startup looking for a place to establish its company ended up settling down in Brewton. When asked why the company picked Brewton over other small towns, Baggett said, a staff member answered that the company loved the look of Brewton’s downtown, its atmosphere and floral displays.
Being part of America In Bloom allows people “who are involved in their own different silos of their community” to come together in a way that you don’t typically see, she said.
Greenwald said her vision for Slippery Rock In Bloom includes a succession plan for the momentum to continue in town.
“Finding someone else to keep it going is a major piece of (it),” Greenwald said. “I can’t imagine living in this town without having those tulips in the fall, planted and beautiful in the spring.”
Greenwald said she has only lived in Slippery Rock for 15 years. Before that, she went to school in the area. The town didn’t always look as lush as it does now.
“Part of that is figuring out … how do we keep that going?” she said.
For now, summer planting is done, but other Slippery Rock In Bloom projects are still underway, including tulip planting that will take place in October, Greenwald said.
