I’m not a competitive person by nature (though my husband may disagree), but one competition I truly feel motivated to take part in is not an individual effort, but it involves every single one of us.  

Earlier in the spring, Public Works Commissioner Tom McTygue announced that the City of Saratoga Springs entered the America in Bloom competition.

America in Bloom is a friendly competition in which communities are matched by population and evaluated on their efforts in eight areas: community involvement, environmental effort, floral displays, heritage, landscaped areas, tidiness effort, turf and ground cover and urban forestry.

Heritage, check. We are the city of Health, History and Horses after all! Community involvement? We absolutely have community involvement. There are so many worthy causes and organizations in our area to which people dedicate both their time and resources. Run through the list, and I think you’ll find that our city already does a very good job in each of the categories.

The judges will be in town July 9-10 to tour the city and judge us in the above-mentioned categories. Our city will be competing this year with: Beloit, Wis.; Ithaca, N.Y.; Kirkwood, Mo.; and Norwich, Conn. On top of competing in the population bracket, the winners for each of the eight categories within the population bracket go on to compete against the winners from other population brackets for an overall winner list.

When he announced the city’s participation in the contest, McTygue said: “My hope is to create a snapshot of the city of Saratoga Springs, who we are and where we are for future generations. Together with citizens of all ages and local organizations, we will work collectively for the beautification of our streets, local and state parks, open spaces, businesses and our neighborhoods, all the while creating a sense of unity, patriotism and civic pride among the citizens of Saratoga Springs. Please join us as we work together for this historic moment.”

There are so many things that we can do as individuals to help toward this worthy cause:

• Volunteer with local clean-up efforts
• Keep signage clean, graffiti-free and grouped attractively
• Dig out weeds on sidewalks, curbs and gutters
• Now is the time for all those little outside home projects, repairs and painting
• Fill a planter with flowers
• Put garbage cans behind a screen
• Pressure wash your siding, driveways and sidewalks
• Always pick up after your dog
• Put yard-debris curbside for city pickup program
• Help an elderly neighbor with yard-work
• Plant a new tree
• Ride your bike to work
• Recycle, either on your curbside or at the Weibel Avenue transfer station
• Form a neighborhood pick-up day
• Daily removal of litter from storefront walkways
• Mulch landscaped areas to reduce water needs and weeding

If you have any questions or suggestions for city or neighborhood events, contact Stephani Voigt at the DPW at 587-3550, ext. 455.

I am not a gardener. In fact, I probably have the brownest green thumb imaginable; I kill every plant I touch… I normally don’t even attempt outside plantings. This year though, it’s different. In a few weeks, you will likely see me outside pulling the weeds in what used to be our front garden and planting the flowers that I will hopefully be able to keep alive for the summer. We all take pride in our very special city. If we all do our part toward the competition, imagine how our already beautiful city will shine.