Congrats, again, to the ‘cleanest city’

Published 12:00 am Thursday, March 30, 2000

It’s one of those times when we’re glad to repeat ourselves … Way to go, Vidalia. For the second year in a row, the Concordia Parish town has put its best — and cleanest — foot forward, and it’s paid off.

Natchez’s neighbor to the west, Vidalia, La., has once again captured the coveted first-place award in the Louisiana Federation of Garden Club’s District 5 Cleanest City Contest.

Organizers estimate as many as 90 percent of the town’s residents pitched in to help ready for the contest — cleaning streets and sidewalks, planting and pruning landscapes, and even pitching up to pick up litter … wherever it fell.

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It’s that type of community pride — and that willingness to roll up their sleeves and get to work — that earns Vidalia residents our respect and our heartfelt congratulations.

Their passion for making their community the cleanest city — a passion that has yielded three previous district honors and one state-wide award — is evident throughout the year, not just at judging time.

And it’s that passion that is an immeasurable resource for town leaders. That same passion can be found in plans for riverfront development and in concern for progress in public schools; it’s evident in civic affairs and social concerns; and it’s a pervasive attitude that creates an enviable quality of life factor in Vidalia.

The statewide judging comes in May, and if history teaches us anything it’s that the residents of Vidalia will once again put their best — and their cleanest — foot forward for the judges.

And we’ll be cheering them on … all the way.