Bruce Webster, Convenor for Clan Hay in Canada
Clan Hay Canada has announced the appointment of two new office bearers in Bruce Webster, who takes over as Convenor, and Laraine Strafford, who becomes Treasurer. Both Laraine and Bruce are the children of Hay mothers and have close links with their families' origins in Aberdeenshire in North East Scotland.
Bruce is finishing a final term of qualification updating in supply chain management and artificial intelligence at a Canadian university before returning to work for a large oil company which, coincidentally, also runs an office out of Aberdeen.
He is descended from a Hay family from Methlick, Aberdeenshire, spending many happy hours in Scotland discovering the tenant farms where family members laboured. In 2013, Bruce worked just below the Arctic Circle, tracing some of the steps of grandfather William Hay from the 1920s and 1930s, who was a steam engineer on tugs taking barges up to the Arctic Ocean.
Laraine writes: "I want to thank Jennifer Van Es for her six years as Treasurer and for the assistance she has already provided to me.
"A little bit about me: My husband, Ben, and I live on a rural property near Edmonton, Alberta, with our various four-legged critters. We are both retired and really enjoy our life in the country!
Laraine Strafford, Clan Hay's newly appointed Treasurer in Canada
"I attended the University of Alberta and obtained the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and worked in administration in an agricultural import-export company then in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry at the university. I then returned to university as a mature student and obtained a Master's degree in Public Management. I continued on a career path in administration at the University of Alberta, serving as Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry and then in the Faculty of Arts. After retirement, I returned to the university to serve as interim Assistant Dean of the newly created School of Public Health. This was a contract position and my principal responsibility was to assist with the establishment of policies and procedures related to the operation of the new school.
"An interest in family history led to a meeting a few years back with Alan Hay, the Clan Hay Society Archivist and a second cousin. Ben and I had visited Scotland in 2000, travelling through areas in North East Scotland to look for clues to my family's past. For me, joining the Clan Hay Society has continued to feed an interest in my Scottish roots and I look forward to my involvement in the Society."
We wish Bruce and Laraine well in their new roles.