Celebrating 10 Years of the South Shuswap Scoop
South Shuswap Scoop & North Shuswap Kicker contributors at a team lunch in November 2025
(Left side front to back) Barbra Fairclough, Melissa Bloxham, Jo Anne Malpass, Rebecca Chadwick, Carole Jeffries, Sionna McTavish. (Right Side front to back) Jo Boxwell, Jan Penner, Jerre Paquette, Tracy Wojciechowski, Celia Dyer (Photo contributed)
By Jo Boxwell
Click above to read our first issue
In April 2016, the very first 16-page issue of the South Shuswap Scoop was delivered to communities across the South Shuswap. First issue stories took readers on local adventures including off-grid living in Notch Hill, hunting for Easter eggs in Sorrento, maintaining trails in White Lake and dragon boating in Blind Bay. Read Issue #1 on the Scoop website via the “Past Issues” tab
Thanks to our readers, advertisers and contributors, the Scoop has grown, and now regularly expands to 56 pages in the summer months with delivery to approximately 200 community boxes and retail locations in Sorrento, Notch Hill, Blind Bay, Eagle Bay, White Lake, Tappen and Sunnybrae as well as Salmon Arm and the North Shuswap. We believe the Scoop’s emphasis on community stories, often told directly by community members themselves, is the foundation of our success.
Our first and 120th issues have something in common. Both papers contain thoughtful contributions from local non-profit organizations. A few groups have been sharing their stories with us since the very beginning, including the Arts Council for the South Shuswap, Cedar Heights Social Centre, Community Futures Shuswap, Notch Hill Town Hall Association, Sorrento & Area Community Health Centre, Sorrento Lions Club, the South Shuswap Chamber of Commerce, South Shuswap Health Services Society and the South Shuswap First Responders. Many more local organizations have submitted articles over the past decade and continue to make the Scoop an inspiring read today.
We publish feature articles on a wide range of topics written by Scoop staff and our talented freelance writers, Melissa Bloxham, Rebecca Chadwick, Celia Dyer, Carole Jeffries, Sionna McTavish and Jerre Paquette. Regular contributors, Karen Loerke, Bryan Lowes and Jason Lutterman share engaging Shuswap history, motorcycle adventures and off-road exploring respectively. We also provide editorial space for elected officials, and our readers have heard directly from former and current MPs, MLAs and electoral area directors in the pages of the Scoop.
Our community-focused culture originates with our sister publication, the North Shuswap Kicker. The Kicker was established by a committee of North Shuswap residents in 1998, but printing a monthly paper was a big undertaking for volunteers, so Jan Wojciechowski took on the ownership of the Kicker as a small business. The Kicker became a family enterprise when Jan’s daughter, Tracy Wojciechowski, joined in 2007. Thanks to the Kicker’s success, the business expanded into the South Shuswap.
(Left) Alex Wojciechowski, Advertising Manager & Ally Atkinson, Classifieds Dept. (Right): Catalina Montgomery, former Advertising Manager; Jo Anne Malpass, former Editor & Tracy Wojciechowski, Publisher.
(Left) Rainbow Poffinbarger, Graphic Designer (creativesparks.ca)
(Right) Deirdre Meier, Fierce Bookkeeping
Today, three generations of the Wojciechowski family guide the publication of the Kicker and the Scoop. Jan serves as director, Tracy as publisher, and Tracy’s daughter, Alex Wojciechowski, is the advertising manager. 120 issues of the Scoop have been published with the assistance of former team members, editors Jo Anne Malpass and Barbra Fairclough, staff writer Dawn Clarke, advertising manager Catalina Montgomery, and team members Cindy Korchinski, Anja Heldner, Ali Maki, and Lena Whittaker as well as current editor Jo Boxwell, graphic designer Rainbow Poffinbarger and Ally Atkinson in classifieds/advertising. We would also like to thank our wonderful bookkeeper Deirdre Meier and our faithful Scoop delivery drivers: Gee Cleverley, Melissa Parmenter and Lieselotte Sware.
Barbra Fairclough commented, “As co-editor and writer it's been my privilege to have played a supporting role and to meet so many ‘friends along the way.’ Congratulations to the contributors and to the Scoop team in their unwavering support for the many voices that have embraced the Scoop as their own.”
Catalina Montgomery shared, “Happy 10th Anniversary to The South Shuswap Scoop! From our humble 16-page start to the vital community connection it is today, it was a true honour to have been part of this legacy. Cheers to the original team who will always be family to me.”
The Scoop would not exist without the community-minded local businesses and organizations that place ads with us on a regular or occasional basis. We would like to give special thanks to the advertisers who have supported the Scoop since the beginning: Community Futures Shuswap,Copper Island Fine Homes, Decks by Donna, Franklin Engineering Ltd., Launch Construction,Little River Boat World, Nature’s Bounty,Realtor Kent Redekop, Shuswap Better at Home, Shuswap Marina, Shuswap Veterinary Clinic, Shuswap Waterfront Owners Association (SWOA), SJO-Renovations,Sorrento Towing and STRepair, Sorrento Village Farmers’ Market, Westend Concrete.
Scoop & Kicker Legacy Team Members: (Left to right) Jo Anne Malpass, Larissa Lutjen, Ali Maki, Jan Penner, Anja Heldner, Catalina Montgomery, Tracy Wojciechowski, Lena Whittaker, Cindy Korchinski
The Scoop team extends our sincere gratitude to everyone who has picked up a copy, purchased an ad, submitted an article or supported our publication in other ways since 2016. If you have ideas about what you would like to see in the Scoop in the next decade, email shuswapscoop@gmail.com.
