“Nearly” 14 years doesn’t seem like a very long time to someone in their 50s, but a lot can happen in 13 years and 7.5 months. A baby becomes a teenager, plans are made and changed, people come and go, 42 becomes 56.
When I arrived here in 2002, Interior Health had just eliminated the hospital’s acute care beds and people in Lytton were protesting against the closure of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital; Gold Trail School District was finding out that it had to pay $2.5 million back to the Ministry of Education over the Distributed Learning program; Greater Vancouver Regional District was expecting to use part of Ashcroft Ranch for a new landfill.
But try as hard as I might over the past few days, nothing really stands out in my memory of my time here as much as they people that I’ve met and the people who have helped build their community.
Yes, there have been major events - the wildfires in 2003, the chicken blockade at the Cache Creek Landfill, fires and floods and much more... But people who have recently moved to town won’t remember those.
What will probably make more of an impression are the people who make things happen here, the people who make them laugh, the people who give them a friendly wave or a helping hand.
Being editor has afforded me the opportunity to work with many of these fine people, who continue to inspire me. It is because of them - you - that I plan to be more actively involved in my community, helping to make it a better place for all of us.
The Voice in my head has been telling me for months that I have other things to do while I still can. I am looking forward to balancing my personal hobbies with comunity work and being able to go exploring whenever The Voice nudges me.
Tool Man is looking forward to it. He’s been retired for four years and he barely sees me. Maybe I’ll be able to get him to finish those signboards before Spring!
Thank you all of you for supporting your community newspaper, and for your friendships. See you around!
Wendy Coomber is editor - although not for much longer - of the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal