Eel Ground in Bloom Winners Announced

The winners of the 2005 Eel Ground contest were announced by Percy Barnaby, President of Abenaki Associates, the Eel Ground – based company which sponsored the first annual contest in memory of Madeline Bernard, Mr. Barnaby’s Grandmother.

The winners are: Best Overall Garden, Darlene Francis of 102 Francis Road; Best Back Yard Garden, Grace McKay of 9 Church Road and Best Children’s Garden, Wenda Murphy of 72 Riverview Road East. Honorable mentions went to Cindy Ginnish, whose garden is a wonderful “work in progress” which honors the memory of various family members, and Angie McKay.

This was the first year for the contest which will become an annual event. “Judging was made very difficult since all entries were strong candidates, and we want to thank all Eel Ground residents who joined in on this excellent opportunity to make our community a better place to live”, said Mr. Barnaby. “Next year we hope to attract more sponsors, and to get a real early start to the contest so more people can plan their entries early in the season. What was really interesting this year was that some of the contestants also submitted stories along with their entries to explain what their gardens meant to them.”

Mr. Barnaby hopes to have a higher level of participation from the younger community members next year and will have more prizes dedicated to them. He also expressed his thanks for Michelle Cadogan and Victoria Irving for their kind assistance in judging the entries, and to Shirley Ward for her assistance in promoting the contest.

Photographs of the winning entries are posted here.

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