VIDALIA, La. – Representatives of the Louisiana Federation of Garden Clubs were in Vidalia Tuesday afternoon to judge the town as part of its statewide Cleanest City Contest.

In late March, the city won Cleanest City title for its district against towns of similar size. This time, it is competing against Patterson, Leesville and Marksville for the state title in its size category. Vidalia officials should know Friday if the town has won the statewide competition.

&uot;I tell people it’s like giving birth — it’s sometimes painful, but when it’s through you’re thrilled with the results,&uot;&160;judge Mary Sue Colvin of Fort Necessity said of the months of work that go into preparing a town for the annual contest.

Residents and business owners, other volunteers and prisoner crews spent four months preparing for this year’s contest, said City Chairman Maureen &uot;Mo&uot; Saunders.

That included mowing rights-of-way, planting flowers, washing parking lots and a number of other tasks.

And the results seemed to have paid off, judging from the comments judges made after taking a 30-minute tour of the town.

&uot;It certainly is clean,&uot;&160;Colvin said. &uot;You can tell they’ve put a lot of work into it.&uot;

Each town in the contest, which is sponsored by the Louisiana Federation of Garden Clubs is judged on 10 criteria ranging from the appearance of neighborhoods and public property to community involvement in the cleanup effort. Vidalia also won the district contest in 1994, 1995 and 1999 and the state contest in 1994 and 1996.