Photo: Facebook - WFN

West Kelowna and Westbank First Nation are blooming lovely – and they've got the award to prove it.

The two are award winners in the Communities In Bloom 20,001 – 50,000 population category for 2015.

The communities received a rating of five blooms, or bronze, and a special mention for Westbank First Nation's Boucherie Road beach improvement during the 2015 national symposium and awards ceremonies in Kamloops. The District of West Kelowna and Westbank First Nation competed against Dieppe, N.B., and Mission, B.C.

Over the summer, trained volunteer judges travelled to participating communities to evaluate the overall contributions of municipal council and departments, industry, businesses and the private sector – including volunteer efforts – in regard to: tidiness, environmental action, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscape and floral displays.

Following their evaluation, volunteer judges Peter Crawshaw and Lucie Gagné wrote: “The commitment of the Westbank First Nation to the community as a whole is demonstrated in many ways and one of the most dramatic is the improvement of the waterfront area along Boucherie Road. The multi-year project has included the creation of a walkway and beach access, complete with an attractive park, an efficient irrigation system, and a diverse variety of trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses, to give the site a four season interest. The project also includes work on the infrastructure of Boucherie Road, by installing curb and gutter, sidewalks, new lighting to night sky standards, off road parking and attractive fencing."