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Board of Directors
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2023 President
Penny McIvor
Penny McIvor has been a member and a volunteer of the Hyack Festival Association for 10 years and has been an integral part of all Hyack’s events. She is also the bookkeeper of the New Westminster and Burnaby Arts Councils. Penny is a fervent arts supporter and volunteered at the Raymond Burr Theatre for over 3 years. Penny has a history of facilitating arts and networking in her community. For 4 years, she was the President of the Quayside Community Board. She owns her own bookkeeping business, specializing in small business and not for profits.
Alan Wardle
Secretary
Board member 2012-2016 and Hyack Festival member and participant/volunteer since 1997 including Treasurer, Vice President positions.
40-year TELUS career employee including administration and technical assistance to business offices and executive homes with mostly client-facing positions.
Community volunteer work includes Scouts Canada (12years) as leadership and funding projects. New Westminster Hyack Football (10 years) photographer and team funding projects/ sponsorship opportunities. Other minor volunteer positions in Salmonbellies Lacrosse, New Westminster minor softball, Sapperton pensioner hall, Telecommunications workers union shop steward. Telus joint panel health & safety committee chairman. Married happily for 35 years with six children to Debbie Wardle.
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Jackie Barber
Treasurer
Jackie has lived in New Westminster since 1992. Her husband, Kerry, was born and grew up in New Westminster, and she has 2 children who grew up in New West going to Herbert Spencer, Glenbrooke Middle School and NWSS. She volunteered for many of the activities her children participated in, such as Royal City Youth Soccer, where she was the Treasurer, Registrar, VP - Girls soccer, and a Coach (12 years in total). Jackie has been the Treasurer for Royal City Hyack’s Youth Football for the past 8 years and was a founding Board member of the Vivo Children’s Choir. She was active as a parent helper and volunteer for Scouts (Beavers), Salmon Bellies Lacrosse, PAC - Herbert Spencer, NWSS Football, and the NWSS Band program.
For the past 30 years, Jackie has been practicing as a bookkeeper, working with a number of local organizations and businesses, and her current business is a partnership with another New Westminster resident.
Director
Peter Goodwin
Peter was born and raised in New Westminster and resides in the city with his family. His law practice, Goodwin & Mark specializes in civil litigation and real estate. Peter was called to the bar in 1983 and also has a degree in International Relations.
Peter is currently president of the Westminster Building Strata Corporation. He is also past president of Fraserside Community Services Society, Westminster Club, New Westminster Bar Association and Hyack Festival Association. In his spare time, Peter enjoys golfing and reading a wide variety of history and likes to travel. He is also an active participant in community affairs and has been actively involved in the sporting activities of his two children.
Director
Kathy Glassie
Kathy Gifford Glassie is a fourth-generation New Westminsterite and has lived in the Royal City since she was born. She attended F. W. Howay, representing her classmates as New Westminster’s 105 May Queen in 1975. She graduated from NWSS in 1980 and started at BC Biomedical Labs in 1982 as a Medical Lab Assistant, eventually becoming a Client Service Advisor at LifeLabs.
Kathy has a passion for New Westminster’s history and traditions. She is helping to keep the Royal Lancers dance going by volunteering at the New Westminster Community Heritage Picnic, now in its fifth year. She is also working with a group of May Day enthusiasts to help make sure the 150th May Day will be memorable. Kathy enjoys spending time with her husband, Ian, her 3 adult sons and new daughter-in-law and their dogs, Bruce, Pepper, and Buddy.
Sherry Joel (Featherstone)
Director
Sherry Joel was born and raised in New Westminster, attending Richard McBride elementary, FW Howay elementary and New Westminster Secondary.schools. Happily married to Doug for 38 years and the proud parent of 2 daughters, Marissa and Brittney, as well as 2 step daughters Shelley and Shawna, 7 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. She has volunteered with the Hyack Festival association off and on since 1981 and was chairperson of the Miss New Westminster Hyack Youth ambassador program from 1985 until 1993, and has been a driver/chaperone for the May Queen's suites for 10 years. She has been a member of Beta Sigma Phi, an International women's service and social organization for 46 years She worked 36 years for BC Tel/Telus and was involved with her union as a shop steward and councillor representative to numerous union conventions. After retiring from Telus she went on to work for Ledcor Technical Services as a dispatcher for their Installation and repair crews contracted to Telus. The family has a home on Whidbey Island in Washington state and spend most summers there, enjoying special time with family and friends
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Carla Brown
Director
Carla has been a resident of New Westminster for over 30 years with 20 of those spent raising her family in Queensborough. She was a major contributor to the success of the Queensborough Special Programs Committee and the innumerable events they hosted, most notably the Urban Famers’ Fall Fair, Queensborough Day, and the Lighting of the Fire Hall. She believes active participation strengthens a community, building life-long friendships and providing countless memories for our neighbourhoods and the Lower Mainland.
Now living uptown in the heart of the Royal City, Carla has volunteered with the Hyack Ambassador Leadership Program and the RCH Auxiliary since 2015.
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Director
Korey Simard
Born and raised in New Westminster, Korey graduated from New Westminster Secondary school in 1993. At the age of 16, Korey worked on the Samson V Maritime Museum as a Tour Guide as well as providing the general upkeep and maintenance. He also worked during the annual Hyack Festival with set up and tear down of events. Korey became a member of the Hyack Float Crew in 1993, then became a key member as the Float Driver in 2006, where he remained until 2022. Graduating from BCIT in 1996 from the Automotive Refinishing Technician program, Korey obtained his Red Seal Certification in 1998, and achieved Platinum recognition in the I-CAR Professional Development program. Korey has a wonderful wife and 3 lovely children, the oldest being the Hyack Princess and Miss Friendship of 2017. In Korey’s free time, he enjoys spending time with his family and going to the dog park with his dog. To this day, Korey is still a proud resident of New Westminster.
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Past President
Becci Dewinetz
Becci was the Hyack Festival President 2021 for our Golden Jubilee - 50th Anniversary year and has been a member of the Hyack Festival Association since 1980. She joined the Board of Directors in 2017 as the Committee Chair for the Hyack Ambassador Miss New Westminster Youth Ambassador Program and has been actively involved in running the program for over 20 years now.
She loves mentoring the youth of this community and watching their growth under the direction of the outstanding Committee. She is a wife and mother of 2 adult children and her career selling Real Estate with Re/Max here in New Westminster has kept her busy since 1992.
Becci is a 4th generation New Westminster girl. After attending Herbert Spencer Elementary she went on to graduate with Honors from NWSS in 1980. The following year she was honored to be named Miss New Westminster 1981 and has been a member of the Hyack Festival association ever since. 3 generations of Becci’s family have been involved in the Miss New Westminster Ambassador Program as her Mother ran in 1958 and Her daughter Maggie in 2012.
Becci is proud to make history by being the first President of Hyack who was once a Miss New Westminster! Her theme for her year is “Decades of Dedication” and she chose this theme to honor the decades of People who have made the Hyack Festival Association such a success for the past 5 decades.
Michael Atherly
Vice President
Michael John Atherley and his lovely wife of 30 years, Deborah Coppen, moved to New Westminster in 1995 for its small-town appeal and many programs it had to offer a family. He has worked 15 years for the City of BURNABY building department as an Electrical Inspector and also runs his own electrical contracting business for 32 years. In his spare time, he tends to the garden, builds planters for and propagate succulents. During summer vacations the last 6 years he’s been restoring a 1974 Airstream trailer located at Lake Tyee Resort in Washington.
Michael was a Scouts Leader for 13 years when his son Spencer and daughter Taylor moved from Beavers to Cubs and onto Scouts. Michael and Deborah became involved with Hyack when Taylor entered the Ambassador program in 2015 and achieved the title of Miss New Westminster and he has since played a minor role with Hyack taking photos for the Annual Ambassador and May Queen events.
Michael is passionate about engaging children and youth in programs that build self-esteem, social understanding and knowledge. Their daughter Taylor entered the Ambassador program as her way of being able to give back for what she received.
Cathy Lawrence
Director
Cathy is no stranger to volunteering. As a Member of the Hyack Festival Association for more than thirty-five years, including three years on the Board of Directors from 1986-1988, she has proven that. Being active in the community is important, and the opportunity to participate in local events throughout the City is a great way to support and promote the Hyack Festival Association. The opportunity to return to the Board is something she is looking forward to.
In the course of a long and successful career as a Human Resources professional with a Canadian Fortune 500 company, Cathy’s role as a trusted business partner was to provide advice, direction and support to both local and remote retail locations in all aspects of Human Resources. Her portfolio included both Franchise and Corporate stores, and she provided her expertise to effectively guide leaders to achieve success in a productive workplace through utilizing best in class employee practices. These HR skills, along with organizing and attention to detail, are attributes that serve her well when volunteering on Committees.
Cathy has a passion for Family History and research, and she has been an active member of the British Columbia Genealogy Society for many years. Some of her family trees extend back to the 1700’s, mostly from England, Ireland and Scotland. One great achievement was to locate two cousins from New York City, all from an old newspaper clipping dating back to 1964. She was able to meet up with them on a trip to New York in 2012.
A long-time member of her condo’s Strata Council, she currently holds the position of Treasurer.
Spare time activities include golfing and gardening.
Heather Winnichuck(Murray)
Director
Heather is a life long resident of New Westminster. She was one of the first graduates of the Queens Park Preschool and moved on to attend FH Howay and NWSS, graduating in 1980. Her studies led to a BSc of Nursing from UBC and a 28 year career in Public Health, most recently in the challenging yet satisfying role of Nursing Supervisor for a regional, multidisciplinary team of professionals who support FH residents living with HIV.
Heather is a wife and mother of an adult son. Heather and her family have been involved with many parts of the New West community – members of the Royal City Curling Club, Sun Run leaders for many years and most recently, Heather has became a member of the Royal City Gogos (part of a national movement of grandmothers and "grand others" that form the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign of the Stephen Lewis Foundation and fundraise in support of African grandmothers who are caring for a generation of children who have been orphaned by AIDS).
In her free time, Heather enjoys socializing with friends, walking with her husband and dog, camping, travelling, dancing in a woman’s formation dance group and playing as much pickleball as possible!
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Sean Della Vedova
Director
Sean Della Vedova has lived in New Westminster for his whole life and has always been an enthusiastic supporter of the Hyack Festival Association. Celebrating many May Days in Queen’s Park as a young student at Herbert Spencer and marching in the Hyack parade with the NWSS concert band ignited Sean’s passion for his city. In 1987, Sean took on a more active role in Hyack supporting ambassador candidates with their public speaking skills under the direction of the legendary Bernie Legge. Throughout the past 30 years, Sean has supported the Hyack Festival Association and is excited to be on the Board as the organization evolves and grows with the city. In his work as a principal in a school setting, Sean knows the importance of communities that are inclusive and welcoming. The Hyack Festival Association’s many events and traditions bring together everyone in New Westminster and Sean looks forward to celebrating and sharing all that makes our city unique.
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Jessica Gillis
Director
Jessi was born in New Westminster and has resided all over the lower mainland. Returning to her roots, she decided to settle down in New Westminster with her partner and teenage son. Jessi has been involved in the community in many ways through volunteering, as her passion in life is helping others and being active in the community.
Jessi has been in the financial industry since the beginning of her career in 2005 and has worked for banks, a credit union and most recently an investment firm. She is a lifelong learner and is always taking courses to enhance her skills.
When Jessi is not working or volunteering, you may find her walking all over New West and chatting with others. She also loves reading, writing, yoga, playing soccer and creating all kinds of art pieces.