Dear Editor:
As I headed out my door today to attend the Hyack President's Tea, the first event over the next two months to chose Miss New Westminster 2014, I put my TV recording device on to capture coverage of the Olympics - where competition and camaraderie ideally rise above politics in the spirit of the Olympics.
I arrived at the tea and saw the community spirit of New Westminster in action. Six young ladies have come forward to be ambassadors of the city of New Westminster and are sponsored by a variety of community organizations.
The Rotarians and Kiwanis service organizations continued their long-standing sponsorship commitments - each sponsoring a contestant. First responders, represented by police and firefighter organizations, also again stepped up to the plate to help two other young ladies realize their dreams. The remaining two ambassadorial aspirants were
represented by Save-on-Foods and One Source Productions - businesses rooted in New Westminster who believe that community service is part of being in New Westminster.
These young ladies came to participate in a public speaking and deportment exercise to be judged, at this first event of 2014, by three judges - two of which had stood in their shoes as ambassadors and Miss PNE contestants in times past, plus a local financial manager. Other local businesses, Tim Hortons and Save-on-Foods, provided tea and goodies, with the ambassadors themselves pitching in with homemade desserts.
As they launched themselves in their quest to become Miss New Westminster and crowned ambassadors of all that's good about New Westminster, they have the love of their families, the support of their sponsors and encouragement of their mentors - all of which have, and will, spend many unpaid hours in support of their community.
City councillor Betty Macintosh and husband Ken, whose two daughters had travelled this road to its apex in the 1990s, were also there to give their support.
The six New Westminster community contestants also have the support of the sea of green-and-red-plaid jacketed Hyack members whose selfless contribution of untold hours in this, and other community endeavors, exemplify the "spirit of New Westminster" - something akin to the spirit of the Olympics, but without "Putin" on the Ritz (apologies to Irving Berlin).
E.C. "Ted" Eddy, Coquitlam, Hyack Festival Association director
