Lynette Talbot’s hard work and willingness to ‘get her hands dirty’ is recognised.
The hard-working woman who gives Sidmouth much of its flower power has been named Citizen of the Year.
Lynette Talbot was described as ‘inspirational’ when she was handed the accolade this week – and shared the award with her small team of volunteers.
Australian Lynette, 65, has been chairman of Sidmouth in Bloom since 2012 and her tireless efforts have seen the town scoop a host of regional and national awards.
Former maths teacher Lynette attended a special lunch with her partner Peter Endersby, also a bloom volunteer, at the Victoria Hotel on Wednesday.
The Citizen of the Year competition is organised by the Rotary Club of Sidmouth in partnership with the Herald. Nominations come from the public.
Rotarian Graeme Bullock said of Lynette and Peter: “They are down-to-earth people in every sense of the word - not afraid to get their hands dirty. They are real workers. It’s amazing what Lynette has achieved in the last five years due to hard work and inspirational leadership. A small group of people have given so much pleasure to so many people over the years.”
Sidmouth’s golden success in South West in Bloom and a silver gilt triumph in Britian in Bloom, promoting the town at a Gardeners’ World exhibition and the formation the beach-cleaning Sidcombers and Himalayan balsam-eradicating Sidbashers were noted among Lynette’s achievements. Sidmouth in Bloom is currently hard at work creating a sensory garden at the Old Boat Park. In typical fashion, Lynette had spent the morning collecting hundreds of plants for the project, before swapping her gardening gear for a dress and the award lunch.
One person who nominated Lynette for the honour said: “She keeps the town of Sidmouth flowery and on the map.”
Lynette said: “It’s a great achievement.
“We have to work together to achieve what we want to achieve.”
She shared the award with Peter and fellow Sidmouth in Bloom member Cheryl Allen.
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