Award Year: 2008

Pam Glass’s record of service to her community and province is outstanding. Her contributions include Board member, Kwantlen University College and its Foundation, trustee and Vice-Chair for the Surrey School District, Past President, South Surrey Chamber of Commerce, Director of the Pacific National Exhibition, Trustee for the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Co-Chair of the BC Seniors’ Games in 2001. As well, Pam has served as a Citizenship Judge and continues to promote good citizenship among elementary school students. Pam is a strong leader as well as a tremendous team player. Pam Glass is an excellent advocate for the community she calls home.

Leo Sabulsky is the Aboriginal Liaison head teacher for Chetwynd School District 59. He is honoured today for his work in creating unique opportunities for students in his area. He launched a community radio station, Peace FM, as a training facility for the students and an important community connector. Leo spearheaded the campaign to purchase a local thrift shop to be operated by students, thus providing much needed work experience. A volunteer firefighter for 30 years, Sabulsky has been fire chief and emergency coordinator since 1998. Leo is a positive influence in his community and his efforts make life better for all who live there.

Honorary Captain Gordon Barrett has dedicated 25 years of volunteer leadership to the British Columbia Regiment’s Irish Pipes and Drums. He was the Regiment’s inaugural Pipe Major and successfully built this internationally-recognized band into a vital contributor to the community. Under his direction, the band performs close to 60 events annually for regimental, civilian, charity and multicultural organizations. He now serves as Director of Regimental Bagpipe Music where he continues to promote and share with the community the work of this outstanding musical branch of the Canada’s military.

When Bill Hubbs retired to the Sunshine Coast, he began to volunteer for a number of community organizations. He was the founding chair of the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation and also served on the boards of the district library, its foundation and the Chamber of Commerce. He co-chaired St Mary’s Hospital’s fundraising campaign and his leadership united a community to successfully raise over $2.7million in 18 months. Bill Hubbs leads by example and his many achievements are testimony to his commitment, persistence and ability to focus on a vision or goal for the betterment of the community.

Ron Silver embodies the true spirit of community achievement by his service to the people of Quesnel. He has served on the chamber of commerce, the economic development committee, the downtown association and the board of the seniors’ home. He has served his district as Chair and director of CNIB for the Cariboo Chapter and as northern director for the BC Long Term Care Association. His greatest achievement is his leadership of the successful campaign to raise funds for a CT Scanner for G.R. Barker Memorial Hospital. He kept the project’s momentum going and inspired workers and donors alike to support this worthy undertaking. An active Lions club member and meals on wheels driver, Ron Silver continues to make a positive difference in his community.

Devotion to excellence and attention to detail are two of the many outstanding traits John Bergbusch brought to the successful restoration of Bee Creek which feeds into the Esquimalt Lagoon. John’s long history in community service as a teacher, a volunteer and former councilor and mayor of Colwood, served him well as he led a diverse team through the many phases of this project. Whether it was John’s successful fundraising, adherence to deadlines or the assurance that the required work did not harm the heritage of the property, his diligence was an inspiration to all. John Bergbusch’s leadership has repaired a damaged ecosystem and enabled its dependent species to return to a safe haven at Bee Creek.

Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling are co-founders of the Vancouver Moving Theatre, a downtown eastside-based professional theatre company which collaborates with its home community to celebrate its artists, art forms, cultures, activism , people and great stories. Their projects always reflect values that support the renewal of the downtown eastside while demonstrating an immense respect for the community where they live. Terry and Savannah produce the annual “Heart of the City Festival” which brings together in stage performances and workshops professional actors and those who live in the area. Terry and Savannah are bridge builders and their work contributes to a lasting legacy of cooperation and hope for the downtown eastside.

For more than two decades, Naomi Singer has contributed her knowledge, skills and enthusiasm towards the enrichment and cultivation of community-based celebrations and public events. The most significant of these is the Winter Solstice Lantern Festival which is now in its fourteenth year and which attracts 12,000 community participants in five different Vancouver neighbourhoods. The creative talents of hundreds of multi cultural performers, artists and musicians, are all coordinated by Naomi. Her gifts and abilities reach people from all walks of life in spaces between buildings, streets and in other urban environments.