Anvil Centre won’t open until next spring, but two of the city’s newest employees are hard at work trying to make it a success.
Vali Marling began her job as the centre’s general manager in September, while Heidi Hughes assumed her role as manager of conference sales and marketing in May. The duo will oversee the operation, marketing and promotion of Anvil Centre, which is currently under construction and set to open on Columbia Street in 2014.
Marling, whose most recent position was director of operations at Tradex in Abbotsford, will be in charge of overseeing the overall operations of the centre’s primary business functions, as well as other ancillary services such as catering and audiovisual.
Hughes’ years of experience in ales and marketing includes work for major international hotel chains such as Hyatt, Hilton and Marriott, where she was responsible for selling meeting and convention facilities.
“The unique vision behind the design of Anvil Centre is what makes this facility so special,” Hughes said. “My job is to market Anvil Centre as the whole package – not just somewhere to have an event, but a place to create and have unique experiences.”
Rob McCullough, manager of the New Westminster Museum and Archives, is also a member of the Anvil Centre management team.
Santa Claus Parade growing
The number of entries taking part in this year’s Santa Claus Parade grows with each passing day.
Because of internal troubles with the Hyack Festival Association, the City of New Westminster opted to organize this year’s parade. The parade is taking place on Saturday, Dec. 9 at 11 a.m. on Columbia Street.
“It’s the real Santa that is going to be in this parade. It’s not a store Santa,” said Coun. Chuck Puchmayr,who has been chairing city meetings about the parade. “I believe he may be coming in on a fire truck.”
Diane Perry, the city’s manager of community development, said the city expects the parade to be similar in size to last year’s event.
“We are up to 37 and counting,” she said in a Nov. 25 email to The Record. “Each day we seem to be getting a couple more.”
The parade gets underway at 11 a.m. and will make its way through downtown New Westminster. Once the parade wraps up, spectators are encouraged to take part in a variety of family-friendly activities taking place in the downtown business district.
The Shops at New West (located at the New Westminster SkyTrain station) will feature photos with Santa from noon to 4 p.m. At the Quay, Fraser River Discovery Centre is offering a Merry Fishmas event from noon to 4 p.m., and River Market features an interactive Christmas craft workshop from noon to 3 p.m. and a holiday edition of Royal City Farmers Market from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
As an added bonus, the city will be offering free parking for parade goers all day on the Front Street parkade.
Because of the parade, there will be no access on or off the parkade from about 10:30 a.m. until about 1 p.m.
