Sydney Van Alstyne is the new marketing and events coordinator at the Burnaby Heights Merchants Association. Despite her young age, she’s not brand new to the marketing scene in Burnaby. While in school, Van Alstyne worked for the association as its summer marketing and events assistant.
“It was very perfect timing because it was summer and I was looking for a summer job,” she said. “I applied and met Isabel (Kolic) and Sajeda (Virji), and feel in love with working here.”
It was Van Alstyne’s aunt, who used to live in the Heights, who suggested she apply for the summer position with the Heights Merchants Association, and boy is Van Alstyne glad she did. This past summer she was brought back once again, this time to coordinate the Hats Off Day parade.
“Before working as a summer student, I had no idea what a BIA was or anything so I kind of developed this intense love for Burnaby Heights,” she said. “It’s just so unique and such a tight-knit community, it’s really nice.
Part of what brought Van Alstyne back to the North Burnaby neighbourhood is seeing the passion the business owners have for their community.
“It’s incredible to see. They really want to get involved, they really want to be a part of all the events going on and they really care about everything happening. There’s so much passion involved with them it’s really so nice to see,” she said.
Coming up, the Heights Merchants Association is hosting its annual Halloween on the Heights event on Friday, Oct. 31. Trick-or-treating gets underway at 3:30 p.m. and runs until 5:30 p.m. The wee ghouls and goblins can then head over to Confederation Park for a ride on the Halloween train presented by the Burnaby Central Railway. To cap off the night there will be a fireworks display at Gilmore Community School.
And on Dec. 6, residents are invited to the annual Light Up the Heights event, which is Van Alstyne’s favourite event of the year. For more information on these and other events happening in the Heights, visit www.burnabyheights.com.
