It is still a bit difficult to think about spring with snow outside, but your local Community in Bloom committee is meeting regularly, working on this year’s plan. Our budget, thanks to City of Trail mayor and council, has been approved for $105,000. But we also have a number of sponsors, and are welcoming more all the time. So we are moving forward.This year, having won the national title, we had the choice of moving into International category; Friends of CiB, a non-competitive category; or Circle of Excellence, which is competing against other winners. The committee chose (and council agreed) to move back into the International competition at the same population category as we were competing in from 2007-2009. The three years we stayed at this level, taught us a lot, and even if we did not win, we steadily increased our score. As always, the most visible you will see this year will be the flowers that Bill Garnett and his volunteers plant around town during the 10-day planting season. Just to give you an idea on the magnitude of their task — over 22,000 plants go into the ground, and this does not include our spring planting in the downtown planters or our fall bulbs. As you can see, it is an excellent weight loss program, so I would challenge anyone to come out and help us and we will guarantee weight loss without any fees. Unfortunately, we won’t have Katimavik volunteers in Trail this year. In the past, they were valuable volunteers for our program.Helping to plant and weed is also a good way to learn about plants and to meet new friends. In addition to the regular planting crew, we are also looking for volunteers to help us plant our 120-plus hanging baskets and 70 large pots and planters at the greenhouse. A major project you will see as soon as the snow goes is the construction of our White Garden at Jubilee Park. This has been a long-time dream of volunteer Phyllis Stone. And now, with a generous $10,000 donation from Kootenay Savings Credit Union, we are in the final planning stages for this project.We are also moving forward on:- the new Tartan banners celebrating the city’s Scottish heritage;-10 neighbourhood historical signs;- additional signage on our murals;- a new amenity area on top of Glover Road;- a new grass bed (looking for a site); and- beautification work at the entrance to the RV Park.Hal Harrison, our representative from the Kootenay Trails Society, is working with a group on how we can better utilize all our covered stairs. We have our 7,500 feet of stairs and as you may remember a few years ago, these covered stairs made the Province newspaper’s list of the 100 Things to Do in B.C. Before You Die. Trail’s stairs came in at Number 27. But more on this later.So, if you have an idea or would like to volunteer, come out to one of our meetings or contact us through trailinbloom@hotmail.com. And remember, we are also on Facebook now at Trail Community in Bloom — look us up and join the fun.And don’t forget to sign up for the Garden Series at Selkirk College.———Dan Rodlie is the Community in Bloom coordinator in Trail. Online: trailinbloom@hotmail.com or Facebook – Trail Community in Bloom