Paddy Wales, President

Paddy is a respected and widely published garden photographer, author, lecturer and teacher. She has visited and photographed many international botanical and other public and private gardens. A passionate volunteer, she spent many years volunteering at the VanDusen Botanical Garden before becoming a founding member and Director of the Sunshine Coast Botanical Garden Society. Paddy has served on most of the Society’s committees, including Events, Capital Campaign and Gala as well as chairing the Garden Design Committee.

Heather Gordon, Treasurer

Heather Gordon has over 25 years experience in non-profit management with a variety of community organizations in the areas of program development, delivery and supervision; grant acquisitions; financial and project management. When Heather grows into a retiree, she promises to spend more time with plants and less time with numbers.

Lynne Bogardus, Secretary

A former teacher and volunteer manager, Lynne made a career out of volunteering in Vancouver before becoming the Volunteer Manager for the West Vancouver Seniors Centre. Since moving to the Coast she has served as founding President of the Halfmoon Bay Citizens' Association, chaired the Halfmoon Bay Advisory Planning Commission for the SCRD and was a Director of the Sechelt Garden Club. Lynne currently chairs the Fundraising Committee and the Grow the Garden Gala Committee.

Mary Blockberger, Past President

Mary is the owner of Double Dog Landscaping, specializing in residential landscape maintenance on the Sunshine Coast. She was previously Vice-President of Broadway Printers Limited in Vancouver and is Past President and current Secretary Treasurer of Secret Cove Resort Limited. Her past volunteer experience includes working with the United Way of the Lower Mainland, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Richmond Fruit Tree Sharing Project. During her term as President, Mary oversaw the huge Groundwork Project which built the Garden’s basic infrastructure, including the Sparling Pavilion. Currently, Mary serves the Society by being the Volunteer Coordinator and Site Supervisor.

Patricia McDowell

Pat is a Certified Management Accountant, Certified Internal Auditor and a Certified Fraud Examiner. She owns and operates Internal Control Solutions, providing forensic accounting and internal control and risk management consulting in association with Lions Gate Investigators Group of Private Investigators. Pat has extensive experience on not-for–profit boards including the Winnipeg Internal Audit Association and the Vancouver Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. Since joining the Botanical Garden Society, she has worn many hats including Volunteer Coordinator and Harvest Festival Chair. She currently serves on the Gala Committee and the Clean Team.

Lance Sparling

Lance is the President of Wakefield Construction Inc., one of the largest companies on the Coast, known for its commitment to the environment and the community. Lance started in his family business, the Spar Group, building it to a multi-million dollar business before selling it to pursue other business interests. He moved to the Coast in 1999. Lance has always been active outside his business and on the Coast was a founding director of the Coast Community Builders Association. He currently serves as their Treasurer and is also active in the Sunshine Coast Rotary.

David Watkins

In a previous life David was a Chartered Accountant, working for 25 years in the telecommunications industry. A Master Gardener, he volunteered for several years at Park and Tilford Gardens and VanDusen Garden. Since moving to the Coast in 2010 he has become active with the Botanical Garden and currently leads the Weed Team. He is a staunch advocate of sustainable gardening.

Marianne Webb

Marianne is an Art and Artifact Conservator who recently moved to the Sunshine Coast. For thirty years she was the Decorative Arts Conservator at the Royal Ontario Museum. She has widely lectured on conservation of Asian lacquer. Her book Lacquer: Technology and Conservation is the leading work on Eastern and Western lacquer ware. She has a keen interest in plants around the world. Marianne coordinated our Events publicity this year.