City volunteers and council members welcome the international Communities in Bloom judges this past weekend. Next year the city will not take part in the competition as it prepares to host the 2015 conference.
(JENNIFER STAHN / iNFOnews.ca)
July 17, 2013 - 5:08 PM
KAMLOOPS – Coming on the heels of a visit from the international judges for the Communities in Bloom competition, city council agreed hosting the 2015 conference would be a great fit for the city, even if it means missing out on the competition in 2014.
Before the judges arrived parks operations supervisor Shawn Cook said he was confident Kamloops can host a conference of this scale and was looking forward to the decision from council on whether to support hosting the conference.
The conference usually draws about 400 delegates but the plan is to host the biggest conference ever in Kamloops, with more than 600 delegates from across Canada and around the world.
“Kamloops is a natural for this. We are national champions, we're a show piece,” Coun. Tina Lange said Tuesday. “We've done what a lot of cities are unable to do and people really do want to see the entire city.”
Lange also added Kamloops “can do so much better” than Edmonton, the host of the conference last year.
Based on the lead time staff is not worried about being able to make sure the schedule works with the Blazers since the conference would be held at Interior Savings Centre.
Also read: International Communities in Bloom judges arrive.
To contact a reporter for this story, email jstahn@infotelnews.ca, call (250)819-3723 or tweet @JennStahn.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013