You might have seen the name Timothy Schafer before in the pages of the Trail Daily Times.
As a former photographer/reporter with the Nelson Daily News, Schafer has shifted his writing to the other end of the river valley Trail shares with Nelson as the newest member of the Daily Times staff.
Originally from Saskatoon, Schafer first moved to the West Kootenay five years ago to join the NDN, working the beats of city hall, regional district and the arts.
The Winlaw-oan brings six years of knowledge of issues marinated in the West Kootenay, and 17 years of experience at various newspapers across Western Canada, to the table in Trail.
Along with his wife, Della, dogs Shadoe and Ellie, and several other furry and feathery critters, Schafer has settled in the Slocan Valley at Cedar Creek Ranch and is entrenched in all the region has to offer.
Hockey and football have been a big part of Schafer’s life, but a three-year gig at the University of Saskatchewan student newspaper as an editorial cartoonist took him off the path of the puck and into the newsroom.
At 27, he became the youngest daily newspaper managing editor at the time in Canada. Print got into his blood, as did the need to be plugged into the heart of a community, and that new passion took him across Western Canada.
Prior to coming to the West Kootenay, Schafer has been a managing editor
(Lloydminster Daily Times, Prince Rupert Daily News, Parksville Morning Sun), photographer (Prince Albert Daily Herald), desk editor (Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Fort MacMurray Today) and reporter (Nanaimo Daily News, Yorkton This Week and Enterprise, Wynyard Advance, Interior News (Smithers) and Comox Valley Echo).