Since we began publishing in 2004, The Columbia Valley Pioneer has put together a great team:



Owner and publisher Elinor Florence is a professional journalist with degrees in English and Journalism and three decades of experience with magazines, daily newspapers and weekly newspapers.

Reporter Sally Waddington is an Australian with nine years' experience on national magazines Down Under. She completed her journalism degree at the University of Technology in Sydney and spent the following years writing and editing travel, medical and entertainment magazines. Always itching to travel, Sally chose the Columbia Valley for its natural beauty and to embrace small-town living.

Reporter Cayla Gabruck, who hails from Killam, Alberta, is currently completing the final term of her bachelor in applied communications specializing in journalism at Mount Royal College. After graduation she will continue working for the Pioneer as a reporter and photographer. In her spare time, Cayla coaches volleyball at the local high school.

Zephyr Rawbon is a talented Graphic Designer who moved to the Columbia Valley after spending seven years at the Canmore Leader and the Banff Crag & Canyon. He graduated from an advertising program at Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario before making his way west, where he enjoys the mountain lifestyle.

Advertising salesman Dave Sutherland found his calling as a newspaper man after spending his previous career “behind bars”, working as a bartender. He sells advertising, writes restaurant reviews and operates his own “Dave’s Hot Pepper Jelly” business at 342-0838.

Project Assistant Samantha Commons recently completed her Business Administration Diploma, with a major in Marketing, at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary. She relocated from England to Golden in 2004, and has finally settled in Invermere, where she enjoys scrapbooking and skiing in her spare time.

Office Manager Michelle McGrogan has lived in the valley for many years and has settled down into her full-time job at The Pioneer. In her spare time she enjoys skiing and nachos.

Shelly Messerli, Assistant Graphic Designer, is a busy mother of three who works part-time in our office creating advertisements for our newspaper and other publications.

© 2004-07 The Columbia Valley Pioneer.