New Westminster - The Annual General Meeting of the Hyack Festival Association was held on January 8th, 2010, at the Westminster Club with many members in attendance.

Marlene Higgins was officially sworn in as President for 2010 by Mr. Justice Robert Crawford. As a highly skilled and versatile HR executive, she is bringing extensive leadership experience and knowledge of people practices to the Association, and will lead Hyack to meet growth targets and strategies to promote the City of New Westminster and produce many events for the community in 2010.

Glen Richmond, Rick Molstad, Tracy Keenan, Gloria Munro, Naomi Johnson, Michael Boncea, Jeff Clark and Chantel McIntyre are continuing to serve as Directors on the Board.

We are also pleased to announce the election of four new Board members from the community: Brenda Adam, Margot Knight-Guijt, Hector Bremner and Matthew MacGrotty.

The Executive Committee consists of Rick Molstad (President-Elect), Glen Richmond (Past President 2009), Tracy Keenan (Vice President), Gloria Munro (Treasurer) and Margot Knight-Guijt (Secretary).

As Marlene Higgins, President 2010, explains, "We are delighted to welcome the election of new and returning Board members. We are especially pleased that Rick Molstad, who has been a Director of the Association for over 11 years, has been elected President for 2011.”

The Association would like to acknowledge and thank Directors Kerry Shular, James Crosty and Tracey Davies who have stepped down from the Board.

Melanie Vogel, Executive Director of Hyack, praised the outgoing President for his contribution: “Glen has been a very great support to the Board and to the staff and a tremendously active advocate of Hyack.”

Former President Glen Richmond states, “Catherine and I had a terrific year and we were honoured to represent the city and the organization both locally and across the entire Pacific Northwest”.

And Melanie Vogel adds: “I am thrilled to be working with Marlene in 2010. With her enthusiasm and creativity she will continue to promote awareness of our city’s history and traditions and – of course – to have fun. With this year’s theme “Be your best – in the City of New West” we want to encourage and involve youth, families and seniors in New Westminster to take pride in their community. We will give our best and will work in close partnership with the City, community partners, sponsors and residents, and with the support of our organization strive to improve the quality of life in our City.”

In addition, during its Annual General Meeting the Hyack Festival Association announced Eric Heather as the 2009 Volunteer of the Year Award. Craig Matthews was recipient of the 2009 Youth Volunteer of the Year Award.

The Scouts Canada – New Westminster were chosen as 2009 Club/Supporter of the Year. The Sponsor of the Year Award was given to the River Market. Mia Ciric commented: “We very much appreciate this recognition. While the market was closed for renovation last year, we tried to our best to continue to support the community of New Westminster. We greatly admire and applaud the work of the Hyack Festival Association in the community”.

For the first time, the Hyack Festival Association presented a Life Time Service Award to Nora Tubman in appreciation of her time and dedication as a member and volunteer with Hyack over many years.
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For additional information and photos contact:

Melanie Vogel, Executive Director at (604) 522-6894 or melanie@hyack.bc.ca