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Your Weekly Clover Valley Newspaper March 28, 2013 ❖ www.CloverdaleReporter.com ❖ 604-575-2405
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Cloverdale Station nears completion
Pasture perfect
BRITTANY YBARRA PHOTO
A horse relaxes in a sun-dappled barnyard near the corner of 199 Street and 80 Avenue in this photo taken earlier this month by reader Brittany Ybarra. If you’ve got a photo you’d like to share with Reporter readers, email it to newsroom@cloverdalereporter.com. Don’t forget to include your name and a brief description of your image. We may use it in an upcoming edition.
By Jennifer Lang A slice of railway history is coming to life at the foot of 176A Street, where a faithful replica of the original B.C. Electric Railway station that acted as a bustling commuter passenger hub for decades is nearly complete. For carpenter Cole Hilton, working on Cloverdale Station is a dream assignment. “I wish I could get paid to do this all the time,” Hilton said last week. “It’s actual, traditional carpentry.” For the past week or so, he’s been installing wainscoting, laying down flooring and performing other woodworking tasks that match the
craftsmanship that went into the original, built around 1910 at the inception of the BCER’s Interurban passenger rail line. “The actual work that’s being done is what would have been done when it was being built,” he said, pausing to cut a section of flooring to size. “That’s what’s neat.” The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society has spent the past decade working to return an Interurban car to the original line. The society moved its operations from Sullivan Station to Cloverdale this past August, and launched a sponsorship campaign for Clover-
See JUNE LAUNCH / Page 6
Inspired by the little moments An up-and-coming Cloverdale writer says her two kids are a source of material for her budding career By Jennifer Lang It would be difficult to dream of a more promising-sounding start to a professional writing career: a budding scribe submits her very first story, and it winds up getting published in the latest edition of a bestselling book series. But that’s exactly what happened to Ritu Shannon, a mom and writer who only recently got serious about her craft. Her story is featured in the latest edition of the publishing juggernaut Chicken Soup for the Soul: Parenthood edition that hit shelves a couple of weeks ago. “Big Sister” is one of 101 heartwarming tales about the joys – and challenges – of raising kids. The volume contains anecdotes and
stories about raising children of all ages. As with the previous installments of the Chicken Soup series, the book is meant to uplift, inspire and offer encouragement. Ritu’s story certainly does that. It centres around one of those cute little moments she shared with her kids – the kind she used to think she’d remember forever, until she sadly realized they would likely fade and be forgotten in time if she didn’t record them in some way. Originally from Victoria, where she graduated from the University of Victoria with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, Ritu lives in Cloverdale with her husband Jamie and their two children, daughter Priya, 5, and son Keegan, 3. She used to write all the time when she
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was in school, but “I just sort of stopped,” says Ritu, who confides that her late grandfather is a famous novelist in India, so writing’s “in the blood.” The realization that she would eventually lose touch with the substance of those precious, day-to-day interactions with her young children as they grew up drove her to put pen to paper again. Inspiration struck after a long distance phone call to her mother in Victoria. “I’m really busy, and never have time to chat with my mom without the kids interrupting,” Ritu recalls. Her daughter, then aged three-and-ahalf, was sitting quietly by her side, her attention focused on her colouring book, See SUBMITTING STORY / Page 5
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