Image Credit: Contributed

West Kelowna Mayor Doug Findlater and Westbank First Nation Chief Robert Louie have unveiled a new logo and website, announcing the launch of the new Partners in Bloom initiative by the two communities.

“WFN and West Kelowna are partners in governance and are both relatively new governments; WFN is celebrating its tenth anniversary as a fully recognized governance body and West Kelowna is now in its eighth year as a municipal government,” says Chief Robert Louie. “Both councils and communities realize the great benefits that come with working together towards common goals.”

One of these goals is to foster civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community involvement and enhancement of green spaces in communities, which is exactly what the National Communities in Bloom competition is all about.

“Just as the boundaries of these two communities are so intimately connected, so are the lives and goals of each community’s residents, businesses and visitors,” says Mayor Doug Findlater. “Knowing that improvements and stewardship efforts benefit the entire community, the Partners in Bloom do not focus on boundaries and instead approach beautification, environmental protection and heritage preservation as one community.”

This is the 10th year of collaboration between the two communities in the national Communities in Bloom competition. This year, the entry has been ramped up.

“We’ve dubbed ourselves the Partners in Bloom and created a logo and a website to solidify our partnership and move us forward,” says Annette Beaudreau, Partners In Bloom Committee Chairperson. “We have always earned high marks in the competition, but we haven’t secured the top ranking that we know we can achieve. This year, we think we just might make it.”

The new website, partnersinbloom.ca includes information on upcoming events including the Most Beautiful Contest, and information about the Partners in Bloom contest entry. A highlight of the website is the Difference Makers, profiles on members of the community that are volunteering or donating towards making their community a better place. Over the coming weeks, new profiles will be added to the Difference Makers webpage.

The new Partners in Bloom logo, developed with insight from Jordan Coble, Curatorial and Heritage Researcher at WFN and WFN Member, represents the relationship and partnership between Westbank First Nation and the District of West Kelowna. It shows two canoes travelling alongside one another represent the two communities working together toward common goals. The dark blue mountain is shaped like Mt. Boucherie, which has always been a key landmark in the community. The top of the mountain directly mirrors the outline in DWK’s logo, the bottom half of which appears on the side of the blue canoe. Arrowleaf Balsamroots, the yellow flowers shown in the illustration, are an indigenous flowering plant also known as the Okanagan Sunflower. The flowers were traditionally used as a food source. Yellow was incorporated into the logo because it represents regeneration and growth in syilx culture, two important aspects of Communities in Bloom.

News from © iNFOnews, 2015