Dear Ironton Citizens: I am so impressed with Ironton’s residential section this spring!

Blooms are everywhere. I see new trees and shrubs planted all over town.

Well-tended house yards, church yards — so much of our town is breathtakingly beautiful right now.

There couldn’t be a prettier place to live than Ironton in the spring!

The Ironton in Bloom organization is right in the middle of their second annual fund drive to make the downtown area as attractive as the residential one.

We feel this is vitally important if we are to encourage small businesses to take up residence on our main streets and to increase the desire to visit our town.

The city’s clean-up effort was a great success. More pots and hanging baskets are in place than last year, and now must be watered and fertilized throughout the summer.

New trash cans, no-littering signs, and benches have been placed downtown and in parks, with more being planned if funding permits.

Contributions are coming in slower this year, since much of the initial cost was contributed by businesses and foundation funds they reserve for first year “start-up” projects.

Since ours is an established project now, those funds are no longer available and we must rely much more on individual contributions.

Despite the economic hard times, we are excited about having collected all but $12,000 of our $38,000 projected cost this year.

If you’d like to be a part of making downtown Ironton beautiful and prosperous again, we could certainly use your help, no matter how small the amount.

You may give your contribution to any Ironton In Bloom volunteer or mail it to Ironton In Bloom Inc., P.O. Box 4599, Ironton.

Onward and Upward!

Judith Sanders is the residential chairperson for the Ironton in Bloom organization.