Abbeville places second in state ‘Cleanest City’ contest

Abbeville finished second in the 2013 state “Cleanest City” contest.
Unfortunately, the result remained the same this year. The Louisiana Garden Club Federation announced the winners of the ‘14 contest Monday, with Abbeville once again placing second to Pineville.
“We want to congratulate the City of Pineville,”Abbeville Mayor Mark Piazza said Monday morning.
Abbeville did finish ahead of Crowley and River Ridge, the third and fourth-place cities, respectively.
“State runner-up honor is certainly a
tremendous accomplishment,” Piazza said. “It is a victory in my book. The competition is extremely tough at this level.
“It speaks very highly of our community to be where we are in the few years that we have been competing,” Piazza said.
Hundreds of volunteers joined city and Vermilion Parish workers in various clean-up efforts prior to the state judging on May 6. Piazza said it is through those efforts that success is possible.
“I want to thank all the volunteers,” Piazza said. “I want to thank the members of both the Abbeville Garden Club and Keep Abbeville Beautiful for their tremendous hard work and effort. I also want to offer a special thanks to (Vermilion Parish) Sheriff Mike Couvillon, the Vermilion Parish Police Jury and (Vermilion Parish) solid waste department, the Abbeville City Council, and all the hard working city employees.”
With the bar now set to another level, Piazza said Abbeville will be back next year with the goal of first place.
“It is a tremendous accomplishment to be in the finals, so to speak,” Piazza said. “This is like losing the Super Bowl. You lost the game, but it is a victory because you made it there and it makes you work harder to win it the next year.
“We will be back to try to win it next year.”