ANGELA VIETH Angela has lived in Waterloo since 1979, a graduate of WLU, she and her husband John have raised four children in the Lakeshore area of Waterloo. Angela has been very active in the community for many years and was successful in winning a seat on Waterloo City Council in 2006. She is also the coordinator of the Kitchener Waterloo Kiwanis Music Festival. Angela was the recipient of the Waterloo Award in 2003 and graduated from the Leadership Waterloo Region Program that same year. Angela has been involved in the community at a grass roots level in the neighbourhood association, school council and by organizing a street party every June. She chaired the Waterloo Communities in Bloom committee for many years and during that time led the city of Waterloo to win several awards. Angela is now a judge with the provincial Communities in Bloom program and a National Judge with the Winter Lights Celebrations Program. She is an active member of the UpTown Waterloo Ice Dogs Committee, the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Volunteer Committee, the Ontario Musis Festival Association and the City of Waterloo Corporat Service Club.

BETTY LAMONT Betty lives and gardens on the sandy shores of Lake Huron. Upon retirement from a career as school teacher and administrator, Betty moved to her cottage at Inverhuron where she enjoys working with her community and indulging in her horticultural pursuits. She is a passionate gardener and enjoys an extensive plant collection, experimenting with sand gardening (part of her property is a sand dune!) and hybridizing daylilies. She is a Master Gardener and founding member of Bruce South Master Gardeners. She enjoys her association with the Kincardine Horticultural Society and Huron Fringe Field Naturalists. Betty has been a member of the Kincardine Communities in Bloom Committee for the past 7 years and enjoyed the challenge of assisting her community bring home the coveted 5 Bloom award as winner in both national and international categories. She has been a Communities in Bloom judge for 4 years and finds the experience of acting as provincial judge particularly rewarding. She enjoys the opportunity to meet with other enthusiastic members of Communities in Bloom and view firsthand their beautiful communities.

BRUCE WARREN Bruce is a graduate of Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and received his bachelor of Commerce Degree in Business Administration in 1972. Over the years, Bruce has owned and operated a landscape company in Halifax, and has also worked for some of the largest landscape firms in Canada. Since coming back to Ontario in 1985 he has been involved with all aspects of the landscape and nursery industry. He has managed large events, such as World Youth Day and the Sars Concert at Downsview Park, and was in charge of the feature garden installations at Canada Blooms for the first 5 years of the show. Bruce still volunteers at the show. Bruce is a Member at Large on the Provincial Board of Directors at Landscape Ontario and is also on the Board of Directors at Canada Blooms.

CHARLIE DOBBIN Charlie is a well-known horticulturist and landscape designer with professional gardening experience world-wide. During her 18 year career in retail, she gave many seminars and demonstrations, wrote and edited articles for newspaper and magazines, had her own radio show, and made guest appearances on over a hundred television programs.

In May 2002, Charlie started her own design and horticultural consulting company, ‘Garden Solutions by Charlie Dobbin’. Currently Charlie hosts the Garden Show on AM740 every Saturday at 9 a.m. She also co-hosted the very successful HGTV-show ‘One Garden Two Looks’ and can be seen delivering practical and entertaining gardening tips on a variety of television stations.

Since 2004 Charlie has been a volunteer judge for Communities in Bloom - Ontario. During the winter Charlie is the Horticultural Director for Canada Blooms, The Flower and Garden Festival.

MARIE HUXTER Marie lives in Whitby, Ontario where she has been the Chair of the Communities in Bloom committee for 2005 and 2006. She was employed at Osler, Hoskin, and Harcourt, Barristers and Solicitors in Toronto but has been enjoying retirement since 2004. Marie enjoys gardening, horticulture, traveling and reading. She is very active in a number of groups, including: the Brooklin Horticultural Society, Oshawa Garden Club, Oshawa Valley Botanical Gardens Task Force, and the Durham Region Master Gardeners. Marie has also taken many non-credit courses over the years at the civic garden centre (now Toronto Botanical Gardens) and language courses in France. Marie believes that the CiB program increases a community’s civic pride and community involvement. She was very impressed with what CiB does witnessing it first hand as the CiB Chair in Whitby and can’t wait to be a part of it!

DENIS FLANAGAN C.L.D Denis is a Certified Landscape Designer, originally learning his craft in England he has designed hundreds of gardens in both Europe and North America. Denis now appears on HGTV’s “One Garden Two Looks” and “The Indoor Gardener” and is currently the Manager of Membership Services & Public relations for Landscape Ontario.

GERRY TEAHEN Gerry is a long time resident of St. Mary’s where he lives with his wife and three adult children. He retired from St Mary’s Cement in 2002 after thirty seven years of employment. During his long service he gained considerable experience, particularly during the last ten years as the company’s Human Resources Manager and Environmental Manager. Gerry dedicates himself to community service. He served 18 years as a member of St Mary’s Town Council, including 9 years as Mayor between 1983 and 1991. During this past term of council he served on the following committees, Administration and Finance, Public Works, Economic Development, and Tourism. He also represented the town on the Spruce Lodge Board of Management and the Perth District Health Unit where he served as chair. Gerry enjoys gardening, golfing, bird watching and spending time with his family.

KEN HUNTER Ken is retired from the position of Director of Operations for the Town of Goderich which he held since 1978. He was in charge of all Town property including over 200 hectares of parkland. He is a graduate of Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and is a registered Engineering Technologist. Mr. Hunter is very active in the local Communities in Bloom Committee and is responsible for giving direction to the program. He has been a Provincial Judge since 2001 and received the Ontario Volunteer Service Award in 2005 for his involvement in Communities in Bloom. He is a Past President of the Goderich Lions Club. Ken is a self professed “Tree Hugger” and takes a “hands on” approach to maintain and improve urban forest within the Town of Goderich.

Bruce Hobin, PAg  Bio – Bruce is a Professional Agrologist who moved to Virgil Ontario in 2007 after spending most of his working career in Saskatchewan. He retired from the University of Saskatchewan where he was on faculty in the Extension Division. There he was the Director of the Agriculture, Food and Horticulture Program and responsible for developing and managing numerous extension activities and events including the Saskatchewan Master Gardener Program. He taught classes in adult and continuing education and community leadership. Bruce has a BSc from the University of Alberta (Genetics) and a MSc in Rural Extension Studies from the University of Guelph. He was previously a Community in Blooms judge in Saskatchewan. Bruce is also a member of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Rotary Club.