Two new youth ambassadors are out and about in downtown Parksville, welcoming tourists and helping people find shops and services.
Addy Waldie and Noah Cody will be assisting residents and tourists Monday to Friday for the next 10 weeks, serving as the Parksville Downtown Business Association’s (PBDA) youth ambassadors.
“These young people will become experts on our town and they have a unique perspective because they’re out every day on foot,” said Pamela Bottomley, executive director for the PBDA. “They’re able to track things like pedestrian traffic patterns, any problem areas that the city or PBDA needs to address and any gaps in the services and retails opportunities that we provide downtown.”
Bottomely introduced the two ambassadors at city council’s July 5 meeting. Cody, who will enter grade 11 in the fall, said he is interested in marketing and graphic production.
“I figured that getting out and just experiencing the people and the business part of the town, that would be a really good way to introduce myself to those type of topics,” he said.
Waldie will begin her final year of high school at Ballenas Secondary in the fall and said she is looking forward to interacting with business owners and tourists. She also said she hopes to become a teacher in the future.
The PBDA was incorporated as a non-profit society in 2006 and administers Parksville’s downtown business improvement area (BIA), from McMillan Street to McVickers Street and from Jensen Avenue to the waterfront. The youth ambassador program was launched in 2015.
