As part of the 2012 holiday festivities in and around the city, the Belding Area Chamber of Commerce coordinated a decorated tree contest to encourage a festive atmosphere to the Covered Village Mall and participating businesses.
The nearly month-long event also served as a way to promote donations of food and clothing which have been delivered to the area food pantries that serve Belding and the surrounding area.
This is the third year for the event and 13 area businesses and organizations participated, including B.C. Pizza, Belding Arts Council, Candlestone Golf and resort, Chemical Bank, Dr. Charles Barker, DO and Staff, Firstbank, Girl Scouts, Independent Bank, Metron of Belding, Millie’s Family Restaurant, Nature’s Need Landscaping, Preferred Federal Credit Union and Rite Aid.
Citizens were encouraged to visit the mall and businesses and organizations which had trees on display at their locations, and vote for the trees they like the best by donating food, to place under the trees of their choice. This year, the results proved once again the generosity of Belding residents as hundreds and hundreds of food items were donated.
In addition to the non-perishable food items, several pairs of gloves and mittens, hats, scarves and ponchos were also donated. A cash donation of $100 was also received and split between the two pantries. The “People’s Choice Award” was earned by Dr. Charles Barker’s medical office, with more than 275 items collected. Leppink’s Grocery store in Belding provided a huge boost to the effort by donating another 300 food items valued at more that $500.
The Belding Area Chamber of Commerce is grateful for the many sponsoring organizations and the hundreds of area citizens who took part in the event by visiting the trees and making donations. Many great ideas to improve and expand the event for next year have been recommended and the chamber is looking forward to a great event in 2013.
For additional information about the event or the Belding Area Chamber of Commerce, please contact Mike Verdun at (616) 794-1300.
The year of bliss. That’s what the Garden Media Group, one of the top trend-spotting agencies in the U.S., has designated 2013 – the year when gardeners turn their backs on trouble and strife and more actively seek joy and bliss in their everyday life.
The report also sees the horticulture industry becoming much more aggressive in its presentation of the benefits of gardening, not only as a way to make communities more beautiful, but also as a way to protect the environment, improve health, reduce crime, make the air cleaner, and even help kids to become smarter.
Both men, according to GMG, are having a significant impact on the thinking of leaders, not only in the gardening industry, but also in government and communities circles at all levels, and especially on consumers who agree that there are clear benefits to be gained from gardening and creating beautiful garden-like environments.
Demand for ready-to-place potted plants is predicted to increase, along with more interest in making better use of colour-injecting summer annuals and foliage plants.
His book, Homegrown Revolution, has become a bestseller, in which he puts tomatillo (Physalis philadelphica), at the top of his list of unusual vegetables. This is a lime-flavoured tomato-like fruit that Wong claims knocks spots off the tomato.
Costa Farms, of Florida, the biggest supplier of indoor plants in North America, has already teamed up with Miracle-Gro to promote Plants for Clean Air (02 For You) as a way to raise awareness of how plants can be used to boost indoor air quality.
