Farmington Beautification Award Winners Honored

Six homeowners and two businesses have been honored for their efforts to make Farmington a prettier place to live.

The city's Beautification Committee distributed the 2012 Beautification Awards were awarded Sept. 27 on the porch of the Warner Mansion. The city has recognized outstanding gardeners for the past 12 years.

During the ceremony, committe chair Larry Kilner cited a favorite quote, words spoken by Abraham Lincoln: “I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives, and I like to a man live so that his place is proud of him.”

The purpose of these awards, he said, is to stimulate pride in our city and encourage neighborhoods to improve their image. Kilner said the committee appreciates the effort that winners have taken to make Farmington look its best and be a city in which everyone can take pride. 

While the Farmington Garden Club judges backyards in its Good Neighbor contest, the Beautification Awards are judged only on curb appeal – creativity, color, balance and maintenance. Committee members individually canvas their selected precinct, based on the city’s voting precincts. The group then views all of the homes together before making final choices.

A winner and a runner-up are selected from each of the six precincts. In addition, the committee picks one business that has an outstanding appearance. The Farmington Chamber also selects one business. The first place winners will receive the coveted bronze plaque to display in their front yard as their trophy.

“It is very hard to make a decision as to which houses should receive the award because there are so many homes that look so exemplary,” Kilner said.

The first place winners of this year’s awards by precinct are:

• Valdas Piestys at 33729 Oakland
• Jay King at 23014 Maple
• Jason and Alicia Logsdon at 22779 Lilac
• Michael Biddle at 21259 Larkspar
• Albert and Jennifer Dompierre at 23914 Whittaker
• Leonard Gyselinck at 23363 Hillview Ct.

Business winners are Cornwell & Associates and Colonial Car Wash.

In addition to Kilner, committee members are John Meyer, Kim Thompson, Lorraine Varnes, Pam Wright and Linda Chiara.

Source: Beautification Committee press release