Have you ever noticed the beautiful flowers and plantings on West Chester Pike, welcoming you to Newtown Square? Have you admired the bright blossoms and manicured shrubs around St. Albans Circle? We know it’s difficult to look past the construction these days, but the members of Newtown Square In Bloom (NSIB) want you to know that they have been working extra hard to keep our town beautiful and to restore much of what seems to have been lost.
Since its inception in 2015, NSIB has strengthened our community through volunteer participation in beautification, historical awareness and civic pride. NSIB raises funds and secures grant money for a number of planting projects, such as the floral hanging baskets, the Newtown Township welcome signs and St. Albans Circle. These dedicated volunteers hope the America In Bloom Advisors will think the community is as award-winning and lovely as we all do.
Volunteers from NSIB, including NSIB Chair Paul Seligson and NSIB members, accompanied judges from the national organization, America In Bloom (AIB) to sites around town on June 19th and 20th and allowed them to inspect and score the town’s effort to be named a “Five Bloom Town.” Newtown Square is also competing against other “In Bloom” communities for several other prestigious distinctions, all in the name of displaying aesthetic pleasure through nature.
For two full days, America In Bloom Advisors Teresa Woodard from Galloway, Ohio, and Debbie Hamrick from Raleigh, North Carolina, toured Newtown Square’s residential gardens and surrounding neighborhoods, floral displays, hanging baskets and municipal landscaping, as well as local parks and the beautification efforts of homes and businesses. Specific visits included Drexel Lodge Park, Echo Valley, the Goshen Trail, Mostardi’s Nursery and the Newtown Meadow Preserve. Besides the Hanging Baskets, which are themed this year in bright pink, white and deep shades of red, members of Newtown Square In Bloom installed floral displays along St. Albans Circle, the township’s bus stops, the Butterfly Garden at Drexel Lodge Park and the two Welcome Signs in the median of West Chester Pike.
Newtown Square is the only town in Pennsylvania to belong to the national organization America In Bloom. The organization is based on a vision of communities across the country as welcoming and vibrant places to live, work and play, and benefitting from colorful plants and trees, enjoying clean environments, celebrating heritage and planting pride through volunteerism. NSIB is a natural spin-off from the Newtown Township Environmental Advisory Council (EAC).
NSIB board members designed an itinerary for the Advisors so that they didn’t miss any of the town’s efforts. They looked at the community’s floral displays, landscaping designs, urban forestry, historic preservation, environmental efforts and overall impression, with very specific criteria for judging. Before all is said and done, America In Bloom Advisors will travel coast to coast, visiting the 40 communities involved in this year’s contest.
The 2025 winners will be named in late September at America In Bloom’s national symposium to be held in Rochester, MI. To learn more about getting involved and volunteering, visit the Newtown Square In Bloom Facebook page and check out the Newtown Square in Bloom website: NewtownSquareInBloom.com.