SEQUIM — The judges have seen about all they can see, and now city officials will wait to hear how they fared in their third attempt to score big in the America in Bloom competition.
Two judges from the nonprofit organization spent Monday and Tuesday touring the Sequim-Dungeness Valley, taking in everything from aesthetic touches along city streets to the New Dungeness Light Station; from a plane ride over the Strait of Juan de Fuca to a tour of the Public Works Department’s award-winning water reclamation and reuse site.
For Diane Clasen of Mason, Ohio, and Frank Burggraf of Fayetteville, Ark., it’s a volunteer venture that takes them from their homes for several weeks out of each year.
Sequim was their last stop among five cities in the category they will evaluate.
“It’s a lot of traveling, but a great way to see different cities and communities,” Clasen said at a reception held in the judges’ honor Tuesday night at Guy Cole Convention Center in Carrie Blake Park.
Beautification program
America in Bloom is a nationwide beautification program in its relative infancy, having launched in 2001.
The city of Sequim entered the Canadian version of the contest in 2002, partnering with Squalicum Beach, British Columbia, and placing high.
Last year, Sequim went it alone, earning an impressive finish among six other cities with populations of 5,000 or less.
