Apologies to a time-honored holiday hit, but ... Rebecca Sciullo is dreaming of a green boulevard.

Ms. Sciullo, an Oakmont resident and shop owner, is proud of "the versatile, diverse shops" in the borough's business district along Allegheny River Boulevard. She's not proud of some of the less-than-pristine surroundings.

"This is one of the last places you can go for boutique-style shops," she said. "We have retained this, but we have to clean up the sidewalks, prune some trees, get rid of weeds.

"The business corridor area has been neglected for some time."

Not anymore. Ms. Sciullo, owner of Oakmont Floral and Design, helped start Oakmont in Bloom, a project designed to tidy up the town.

"We have the full support of [borough] council," she said, "and we have about 100 citizens, business owners and garden club members who are interested in making things more beautiful around here."

It is similar to the "Operation Redd Up" campaign that the late Mayor Bob O'Connor started in Pittsburgh in 2006, and further back, to the Boulevard Project that helped refurbish Oakmont in the late 1980s and early '90s.

In fact, Oakmont in Bloom resurrected a fund-raising idea from that long-ago project. It is selling green bows for $10 apiece.

"We have about 500 of them and hope to reach our goal of $5,000 for 2008," said Ms. Sciullo, adding that her group is about halfway toward that target.

"We encourage business owners and residents to buy them and put them up on their front doors, their lampposts, whatever."

Kaaren Amodeo, a longtime resident and former Oakmont council member, helped launch the Boulevard Project 19 years ago.

"I was with a group of women from the garden club, and we wanted to redo the main corridor," said Mrs. Amodeo, a councilwoman for 12 years.

"We raised $3.7 million during the campaign. Part of that was by selling green bows. We put in a walking trail, all the gas lights, the cantilever crossing, a replica of train station [among other things].

"When Rebecca asked if she could reinstate the green bow campaign, I said 'absolutely.' "

Ms. Sciullo has a lot of time, money and emotion invested in Oakmont. She has lived there for 22 years and has had her floral shop for eight.

Now she is spearheading Oakmont in Bloom, a pursuit that began in September. Ms. Sciullo is pleased with the response, and with the holidays past, is hoping that interest will increase.

"We need to clean up," Mrs. Amodeo said. "We need the pretty stuff that Rebecca is so good at."