Coshocton has competed in the national floral and landscape competition for nine years
Published 5:40 a.m. ET July 23, 2022
America in Bloom judges Jack Clasen and Susie Stratton talk with Anne Cornell, executive director of the Pomerene Center for the Arts, at the artPARK during a previous visit. Advisers, formerly known as judges, will be in town Monday and Tuesday.
Leonard Hayhurst/Tribune
Advisors from America in Bloom will be in Coshocton Monday and Tuesday touring the local area with representatives from Coshocton in Bloom.
AIB is a national floral and landscape competition Coshocton has competed in for nine years against community similar in size.
Categories rated are community vitality, flowers, landscaped areas, urban forestry, environmental efforts, celebrating heritage and overall impression.
A community celebration with the advisors will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Clary Gardens on Chestnut Street.
COSHOCTON — Encouraging local beautification and showcasing what Coshocton has to offer to the world are reasons the city has competed in a national floral and landscaping competition for nine years.
Advisers, formerly known as judges, from America in Bloom will be in Coshocton on Monday and Tuesday. They will visit various areas in a tour formulated by a local steering committee, Coshocton in Bloom, to write evaluations citing strengths and opportunities for improvement. Categories rated include community vitality, flowers, landscaped areas, urban forestry, environmental efforts, celebrating heritage and overall impression.
Stops will include the Coshocton County Court Square, REACT Park, building renovation projects along Main Street, Coshocton County Fairgrounds, Roscoe Village, Clary Gardens and others. A community celebration with the advisers will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Clary Gardens, 588 W. Chestnut St.
A stop will also be at the new CIB greenhouses on Denman Avenue, which opened this spring. The greenhouses are being used to grow plants and assemble hanging baskets and pots seen throughout Downtown Coshocton and Roscoe Village.
Coshocton competes in AIB against other communities the same size. Adviser evaluations and awards will be given at a symposium Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 in St. Louis, Missouri. Last year, Coshocton won a special award for best sports complex for Kids America. More than 275 communities from 43 states have participated in AIB to date.
The advisers visiting Coshocton had been here before, Leslie Pittenger and Linda Cromer. Both were instrumental in spearheading the creation of AIB local steering committees in their communities.
Pittenger has been an adviser for AIB since 2014 and was former auditor for the City of Belpre. She's a member of the AIB board and past board president. She has served on the national awards program committee and has been the adviser coordinator for five years. Pittenger has completed the Ohio Tree Commission Academy course and is an Ohio Sate University Master Gardener.
Cromer is from Greendale, Indiana, and owned a floral shop and greenhouse for more than a decade. She also served as a planning commissioner, chairperson of the park board and tree board and housing authority commissioner. She has used her extensive traveling to audit design and horticulture classes at a number of universities while also studying the diversity and individuality of public gardens and the communities where they are located.
Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.