By Evelyn Alemanni, AIB Judge and Board Member

If it's your first year in America in Bloom, preparing the Community Profile Book can be a huge undertaking. Basically, this "book" is a snapshot of your town and its efforts for this year. It can become a wonderful resource, and not  just for the judges.

Many towns have discovered that this book earns a respected place at the city library, city hall, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Visitors' Center, just for starters. Towns have found these books to be useful addenda to grant applications as well. In Kirkwood, Missouri, the book became a fundraising tool. It was so beautifully produced that EVERYONE wanted a copy. Some cities even sell advertising in their books to help offset the production costs.

Remember some easy guidelines:

• The book should fit within a one-inch thick binder.
• Photos should have captions.
• Address your achievements in each of the eight judging criteria.

We are all in money-saving mode these days, so here's a thought. Prepare one copy of the book for the judges, another for the AIB office. The judges can use both hardcopies while in your town. You keep one copy, take the other to the symposium to show off, then leave it for the AIB office. You can give the judges a copy of your book on a CD so they can refer to it later when they fine-tune your town's evaluation.

Another option is to follow the example of Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada. They post the entire book on the city's web site where anyone can download a pdf version. 

Photo: The city of Grand Prairie, Alberta posts its entire Community Profile Book on the city's web site.