Madam, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped Ross-in-Bloom prepare for the Heart of England in Bloom Visit.
The town looked absolutely wonderful and the judges seemed very pleased with what they had seen this year. We were very fortunate that the weather improved for the day, which gave the town that extra sparkle.
Too numerous to mention are the individuals that helped but I must give special thanks to those who gave up their Sunday to make sure that the town was clean and litter free on the day. It would be totally unfair to mention some and leave out others as they all worked extremely hard for their town this year. So thank you all – you know who you are.
Thanks must also go to all the Herefordshire Council and Amey Wye Valley workers who worked extremely hard in the weeks leading up to the visit as well as on the Monday morning. We are very grateful to them for all of their help and hard work during the year but they manage to pull out all the stops for special occasions.
I must also thank all the traders in the town that put out floral displays and flags. These made that extra difference to the town as a whole and make it really colourful. I understand that the Market Traders did well on the day and were well supported.
The tea provided by the Guides was most welcome at the press call and their cakes looked delicious. Thank you to everyone who came to the swimming pool where the Mayor, Mayoress and Carnival Princess officially welcomed the judges to Ross.
My final thanks must go to my team of volunteers at Ross-in-Bloom. They have all worked extremely hard all year and I understand some of them are planning next year's event already.
The local judging continues through July and into August and the awards given this year will be published as soon as this is all done. Last weekend we found time to travel to Newent to judge their gardens – it's still all go. I will be travelling with some of my committee and representatives of the Neighbourhood entries to Pershore on September 3rd to see how we got on and hopefully we will be bringing back a good award again this year.
Margaret Lucas, Chairman, Ross-in-Bloom.