Return to PB Index   The Prescott Journal - December 31, 2003 By Astrid Strader, Project Supervisor, Horticulturist, and Garden Designer Even though the 2003 team has graduated, Prescott Blossoms continues to work behind the scenes.  Volunteer Michael Laking has been working hard on another proposal, which includes a work plan for 2004 that we design, along with other partners in the community, like the Rotary Club of Prescott, and the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival. That's for next year. But for now, I'd like to take the time to thank our partners of 2003, those who made up the approximate $200,000 in-kind donations that we received this year.  We set out with these objectives: 1) to continue to help conserve natural and cultural sites in the town of Prescott, beautify existing town growing spaces, create and/or beautify more usable park space and to protect open spaces for recreation, education, and enjoyment;  2) to commit to providing Youth At Risk with opportunities to develop skills for personal growth, work experience and community service that they cannot access anywhere else. Responding to the question, “How to grow a great community?”, Mike Stolte, a Community Futures Development Corporation manager in British Columbia was recently quoted in Canadian Living Magazine saying:  “Change should come from within the community, not by convincing Microsoft to come there. Most successful communities don’t start out with grand master plans. They get a few small successful projects under their belts first.  Then they realize, Hey, we really can make something happen.” Economist, David Leadbeater of Laurentian University adds: “Forget all the charts.  If you feel there’s a buzz – if you walk into a community and feel that something is happening and that it is vibrant, not soulless – then that is the best indicator of economic potential there is.” There definitely was a buzz in the air this year.  Not a place around town was left untouched and with so much enthusiasm, a lot of work and the generous assistance from the following contributors, Prescott Blossoms was truly a successful community imitative.  We’d like to acknowledge and thank all our contributors this year: Bob Millar – our downtown “green” caretaker, who regularly watered the plants at the Daniel’s lot parkette Brockville YMCA for Passport to Wellness Canadian Coast Guard for labour, rope, paint, signs Canadian Tire and Inge Van Strahlen for plants, prizes for Prescott’s first garden contest and judging CN Railway for fence posts Countryman’s Garden Centre for bedding plants Downtown Business Improvement Association for plants and landscaping supplies Fire Dept. for landscaping supplies and training Fort Wellington for gravel, plants, misc. supplies and training Greater Prescott Graphic Development Corp. for training and supplies Grenville Land Stewardship Council for trees and training Kerlyn Snelling for labour and contest judging Kinsmen Club of Prescott for hand-held radios Kinsmen Skateboard Park Committee for training Knapp’s Landscaping for topsoil Library for computer software training Lloyd Perrin for wood chip mulch Michael Laking, proposal development and project co-liaison O’Reilly’s Your Independent Grocer Community Room Oasis Institute for Healthy Living Inc. for misc. supplies, plant material Ontario Works for work crew apparel Ontario Power Generation for timbers at town dock Prescott Journal for this weekly column Heather Primeau for contest judging Riverside Pontiac for van Rotary Club and President Candy Alexander for supervision Astrid Strader for proposal development and project design South Grenville District High School for labour Tackaberry Construction for stone dust Town of Prescott consultation, supervision, training, machinery and equipment, topsoil, compost, mulch, transportation, office and payroll, insurance Young’s of Prescott for caps. This list does not include the many donations received for the Dream Green for Prescott or Waterfront Fundraising campaigns, which totaled approximately $3,900. “Change is inevitable, Growth is Optional”.   That sums up our never-changing goal – we aim to choose growth on all levels – community and personal (intellectual, emotional, physical, spiritual).  In the spirit of giving that this season brings, we thank you all so much and wish everyone a very happy holiday.