The 100 Mile Free Press is welcoming two new members to the team this month.
Lone Butte columnist Fiona Grisswell has been hired as a reporter while Jocelyn Cooper will take over as receptionist and circulation manager. Both women are looking forward to being part of local community-focused news.
“I’ve been writing since I was about five and I wanted to be a journalist for several years … when I got the opportunity to work here I was like ‘really?’” Grisswell, 58, said. “What are the chances of you moving to the backwoods of nowhere and wind up doing something you’ve wanted to do forever? It doesn’t happen too often.”
Originally from Alberta, Grisswell travelled across Canada before eventually settling in Prince George in 1990 where she studied graphic design. In 2019, she made the decision to leave the city behind and moved to Lone Butte.
“When I was a kid, probably eight or nine, we spent a family vacation up in the Yukon for a month and both dad and I fell in love with it. The Lone Butte area reminds me a lot of the Yukon, the wildness of it, so it just appealed to me,” Grisswell said.
Cooper shares Grisswell’s love for the South Cariboo and is looking for a place to settle down with her husband Chris, the district manager for the Ministry of Forests in 100 Mile House. Hailing from Cheshire, England she’s been to countries across the globe from France to the Florida Keys. During that time she has worked as a stewardess on private yachts, an administrator for various businesses, general manager for J & S Franklin in London and a brief stint at the Fort Nelson News running the front desk.
“We plan to live in 100 Mile House and jobs that come up are like gold dust in these parts. I thought I had some experience in the newspaper business I could bring to the position here,” Cooper, 58, said. “I like the locals coming in and getting that personal connection again.”
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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