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Senseless thefts of hanging baskets

Beautification efforts for the town suffer from selfish acts
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Flower baskets hung just last week have already been subjected to theft in Chemainus. (Photo submitted)

It’s always sad a select few have to ruin things for everyone else.

It’s a rite of late spring heading into summer for the beautiful hanging baskets provided by the Chemainus Business Improvement Association to go up around town. It’s only been a week and some have already been taken down by thieves helping themselves.

Those voids left behind won’t be filled and everyone loses out because of a selfish act.

The delightful arrangements were nurtured with utmost care over the past six months, CBIA executive director Krystal Adams points out, and were custom-cultivated exclusively for Chemainus businesses. There are more than 200 of them gracing the town’s landscape, adorning local streets and rejuvenating the spirit of the season.

“With a grant from the Municipality of North Cowichan and funds set aside from the CBIA, we are able to once again welcome these beautiful baskets into town,” added Adams. “We start planning in early November and have them fully ordered by December. This year we ordered the baskets through Superior Gardens in Lantzville, one of the only greenhouses with a large enough space to grow all these baskets. This is the fifth year with them and each year we tweak them for longer growth and hardier flowers.”

It’s appalling some thoughtless people think so little of others and the enjoyment these baskets bring. And for what? They’ll probably be torn apart and someone will try to sell the individual components, but how much value are we talking about? Very little compared to the loss to the community.

The CBIA does many projects throughout the year, but the arrival of the summer hanging baskets is one of the highlights.

These efforts should be rewarded, not deflated by a few uncaring individuals. If you know of anyone who may have taken a basket, perhaps it would be a good idea to make sure it’s understood how their actions have people ticked off.

And if it’s young people, the families need to take some responsibility and make sure some hard lessons are learned for what they’ve done.



Don Bodger

About the Author: Don Bodger

I've been a part of the newspaper industry since 1980 when I began on a part-time basis covering sports for the Ladysmith-Chemainus Chronicle.
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