MANSFIELD — Through the eyes of two America in Bloom judges, Mansfield is beautiful.
Linda Cromer, of Greendale, Indiana, and Tim France, of Coshocton, were both impressed by local beautification efforts.
“I’m wowed by it, and what I’m particularly wowed by is the fact that everyone in the community is pulling in the same direction,” Cromer said after spending a day and a half studying the city’s appearance. “There’s tremendous community vitality and it’s contagious.”
She and France visited Mansfield Thursday, July 25 and Friday, July 26. They had already toured OSU Mansfield’s micro-farms and explored downtown. Later, they attended the final Friday concert at the Brickyard.
Cromer has visited Mansfield previously to visit Kingwood Gardens and driven through the city a few times beyond that.
“And you can really see the resurgence in the community, even if you’re not an AIB (America in Bloom) judge,” she said. “Anybody driving through the community that had been here ten years ago would see an obvious change.”
France recalled a conversation about the Richland County Land Bank’s role. He was impressed by how the organization has cleaned up the city through demolitions, cleanups and by transferring blighted properties to new owners.
“It’s not easy work for the people who are in charge,” he said.
France was born and raised in Ohio, but had never visited Mansfield. As a child, people would joke, “You’ll go to Mansfield, if you’re bad.”
After spending a day and a half in the heart of the city, he was pleasantly surprised. Mansfield wasn’t what he’d been warned about as a youngster.
This is the third year that Mansfield has participated in the America in Bloom competition. In 2017, the city received an award for “Outstanding Achievement for Landscaping.” In 2018, Mansfield was named the champion in the 25,000 – 75,000 population category and received the “Coolest Place for Kids” award.
The results from this year’s judging will be released in October.
