This spring, nearly 10,000 tulips bloomed on their namesake street in downtown Dartmouth.

It all stemmed from a small patch of tulips planted in front of Sam Austin’s home on Tulip Street last spring. Planted in the mangy and often overlooked no man’s land between the sidewalk and the street, known technically as the verge, he had no idea that his small flower patch would blossom into a community wide point-of-pride.

His winning pitch was simple – he wanted to extend the brightness of the verge in front of his house to his entire neighbourhood. Thanks to the Awesome Foundation, Sam was able to bring his idea of lining Tulip Street with tulips to fruition. 

“Tulip Street has always been a tight community,” says Sam. “But you tend to know just the people on your block. Maple Street cuts Tulip Street in half, and since Maple is a busy street it truly divides the street. This project brought the whole street together. I really feel like the two blocks joined.”

The entire street embraced the project and got to know each other a bit better as neighbours and friends while collectively pitching in to dig in the dirt and plant the bulbs last fall.

Aside from just a source of neighbourhood pride, visitors from far and wide took a chance to tip toe down Tulip Street this spring to enjoy the colourful blooms.

Eleanor Bramah lives on nearby Rose Street and hopes the idea will inspire some of the other ‘Flower Streets’ in downtown Dartmouth. “The street looks incredible, it’s just lovely to walk in the neighborhood. In fact, Tyler [my husband] and I liked the idea so much we planted roses on Rose Street.”

Far from a one-off event, tulip varieties were chosen specifically for their hardiness ensuring they will bloom each year for many years to come.

As for Sam’s favourite variety? The Daydream- an apricot yellow tulip that deepens to a fiery orange as it blooms.

Got a brilliant idea that you’re certain will make a splash? Click here to submit your idea by May 24, 2013. Want to come out and celebrate our spectacular coastline? Join us on June 5 (Ok, so the event’s not actually in May this month) from 7 – 9 pm at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic for the grant event.

My idea will bring smiles to every face that sees us, and bring everyone over the age of 30 back to their childhood! How, you may ask?  By turning downtown Halifax into a LIFE-SIZE PAC-MAN GAME!!!!

 This will be accomplished by beginning at Grand Parade Square, using Brunswick Street, Lower Water Street, Sackville Street, and Duke Street as the outer edges of the “game area”.  Those streets, and all the streets in between will be where “Hali-PAC” has to collect his pellets, while avoiding the four ghosts who are looking to send him the way of the Mont Blanc! 

 The game will consist of three teams of two, and will be played a total of three times.  Each team will have a turn being “Hali-PAC” and each team will have to be two of the ghosts twice.  The team acting as “Hali-PAC” will have one team member dress as “Hali-PAC” and the other member act as the controller from Grand Parade Square, telling them what streets still need to be covered by looking at the control board and the location of “Hali-PAC” via GPS. “Hali-PAC” will begin on Barrington Street, and the four ghosts will begin on Argyle Street. At the sound of an airhorn, they all set off to achieve their goal; “Hali-PAC”, to collect as many points/streets as possible, and the four ghosts, preventing him/her from getting through all the streets!  “Hali-PAC” will have three chances to try to get as many streets covered as possible, earning points for each street completed. The winner will be the team that gets the most points before the ghosts catch them three times.  Each participant will have a foam costume, which looks like their alter-egos, GPS locator and GoPro camera built in to display their position on a virtual game board to the controllers at Grand Parade.  The “Hali-PAC” costume will have a walkie talkie built in, in order to communicate with the controller at Grand Parade.

 My experience inventing things my whole life has set me up to be the perfect candidate to pull this off…I have made countless Halloween costumes out of foam already, and know exactly how to create functional, breathable foam costumes that can accommodate people running through the streets of Halifax.  I have knowledge in GPS locating, and how to create a real-time, interactive map showing Halifax and all the participants in the game.

We granted all 4 presenters $1000 to do their projects. That means very soon you will see Lego and Have some Fun, Connect 4 on the Commons, Fairy Light Lane and Permanent Ping Pong in an area near you! We were so excited to see the amazing community support and turnout of 100 people. Social media was busy and it is safe to say that Awesome Halifax is stepping up the ante for the other Awesome Chapters.

The S’Mores were amazing and the random cooks made it happen. Thanks to Chives and our local food friends. So get your awesome ideas in and lets get them funded. Here’s to a great YEAR 2. See you March 28.