Playing at the Clova March 1 to 7, 2013

Playing at the Clova this week from Friday March 1 to March 7th is:

7pm - Django Unchained

10pm - Gangster Squad

Last show lets out around 11:55pm. Admission is $8, stay for one or both movies. $15 if there are 2 in your party. Add $4 for each extra person. Tuesday nights $5 each.

When Cloverdale had 4 TV Stations

When I was growing up in Cloverdale we had black & white TV and 4 TV stations:

Channel 2 - CBC
Channel 6 - CHEK - Vancouver Island
Channel 8 - BCTV
Channel 12 - KVOS TV serving Northwest Washington and British Columbia

In one form or another these TV stations still exist today.

I remember KVOS TV every morning had cartoons called Frisky Frolics and in the afternoon the cartoon show was Funorama. On CBC in the morning were children's shows that were Canadian predecessors to Sesame Street. We watched the Friendly Giant, Mr. Dressup, and Chez Helene. The last was a show to teach us kids in the western provinces some French. Helene mostly spoke French but her assistant Louise translated into English. They taught us several French songs.

Around 1970 cablevision came to Surrey and I think we were one of the first households in Cloverdale to take advantage of the 3 extra channels that cablevision provided, all based out of Seattle:

Channel 4 - KOMO, the ABC affiliate
Channel 5 - KING, the NBC affiliate
Channel 7 - KIRO, the CBS affiliate

This was huge news. For me the biggest thing was getting the ABC channel meant I could now watch the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family. The other thing I remember is my father buying extra cables and splitters so he could get cablevision to all the TVs in the house. I think we had 3 TVs by that time.

It seems shortly after we got the 3 big US stations on cablevision we also got PBS and that came on Channel 9. I definitely remember watching a show on PBS in 1972 when my cousin came to visit and was interested in watching a show on this channel.

Around 1975 the Vancouver area got another TV station called CKVU and it was on Channel 10.

Who remembers the big shake up in TV channels?

Channel 2 CBC started showing on Channel 3.
Channel 7 KIRO CBS started showing on Channel 8.
Channel 8 BCTV started showing on Channel 11.
Channel 10, CKVU started showing on Channel 13.

And then we got a French speaking station and I think that started showing on Channel 7.

These days households around Cloverdale have cablevision and satellite and have over 100 channels.

Excerpt from Horseman Spell by Cheryl Rhodes

 

“Ladies,” greeted Bob. “Pam, I’d like you to meet Scott.”

Pam had put her hand out to shake the newcomer’s, but snapped it back to her side as if it had been burned. Scott wheeled to face her.

“You!” Pam backed up a step.

“You!” The accusation in his tone cut off and filled the room with an awkward silence.

They stood motionless glaring at each other.

“I, uh, take it you’ve already met.” Bob cleared his throat and twirled the beer bottle in his hands.

Scott set his bottle down on the fireplace mantel and Pam scurried to the front hall. She grabbed her coat from the closet and curled her fingers around the front door’s handle.

“Don’t leave on my account,” the sarcastic voice behind her mocked.“I’ll go.”

Looking over her shoulder, Pam saw Joanne and Bob frozen in the doorway of the living room. They looked dismayed, but she couldn’t deal with them now when they only thing on her mind was putting some distance between her and Scott. She gripped the doorknob tighter, turned it, and marched out of the house. Hearing Scott’s footsteps close behind, she quickened her pace, reached the car and fumbled for the keys.

“I want to talk to you.”

“Forget it. Nothing you have to say interests me.” Pam tugged her car door open and slid into the driver’s seat. Before she could slam the door, Scott maneuvered his body between the open door and the driver’s seat. He braced his hands on the roof of her car and used his body to prevent her from closing the door. Pam desperately fought not to notice his thigh muscles bulged against his blue jeans as he flexed against the door at her eye level.

“You need to hear this.” Scott slapped the roof of her car once.

Pam raised her eyes and his dark eyes stared back into hers. Frown lines wrinkled his forehead and he scowled at her. Pam swallowed, remembering how many times she’d seen that expression before.

“Leave me alone or I’ll scream so loud I’ll have every person within five miles running to help me.”

“When are you going to grow up?”

They glared at each other. Scott bent down, his mouth drawn into a hard, thin line, his face getting closer to Pam’s. She pulled the seatbelt out, clicked it into place, turned away to put the key in the ignition, and started the car. Scott backed away from the car, palms toward her as if he were trying to ward her off. Just before Pam slammed the door shut, she heard him say, “You can’t avoid me forever.”

 

Buy links:

Musa Publishing
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Barnes & Noble
All Romance Ebooks

Horseman Spell is available through other online booksellers and on iTunes.

Playing at the Clova from February 15 to 28, 2013

Playing at the Clova from Friday February 15th to the 28th, 2013 is:

7pm - Escape from Planet Earth

Show lets out around 8:30pm. This is a new premier so the Clova has to play it for 2 weeks and isn't allowed to show a 2nd feature. Admission is $8 or $15 for 2 people. Add $4 for each extra person in your group.

Tiretown

There used to be a tire business on 176th Street just south of Highway 10 called Tiretown. It was the first business that people travelling north saw in Cloverdale. The name really bothered my mother because she thought that people travelling through would think they were driving through the town of Tiretown instead of the town of Cloverdale.

In the early 70's when the Cloverdale Bypass and the bridge going over the train tracks was built, Tiretown ended up being on the dead end section of 176th Street where a few business remained, cut off due to the new bridge.

My father has been buying tires there for decades and for most of that time its been run by a man named Gordy, one of these good neighbour type businessmen offering great service and good prices. In the late 70's my father had a couple of extra tires from a truck he used to own. He brought them down to Tiretown and had them keep them on consignment. He told Gordy when they sold they'd both make a little money. After a year or so Gordy called and said the tires had been sold and come down and pick up a cheque. I was driving by that time and my first car was a VW Beatle Bug. My father went down and made a deal to outfit my car with good winter tires on the back. After that whenever it snowed my father took the Beatle because he said it was the best car we had for driving in the snow.

Eventually I started using Tiretown to buy my tires and sometime over the years the name evolved into Tireland.

My front right tire was low and I filled it with air about a week ago. Today I noticed it was down again and decided to take it over to Tireland to get them to look at it. Probably picked up a nail on the road somewhere. They do repairs quickly and very inexpensively. I drove up and there's a sign on the door that they're closed and now operating out of the Langley Tireland. That's too bad. I'd heard the building had been sold and the plan was to close down one of these days but its always a surprise when that happens. A tire shop has been operating in that spot as far back as I can remember.

Heads up to anyone heading that way for tires. Tireland, formerly Tiretown, is no longer operating in Cloverdale.

Penny for your Thoughts?

The Canadian mint stopped printing the penny this past week and retailers now have to round penny amounts to the nearest nickel.

I was at a shop yesterday and my purchase came to $10.53. They don't have the cash register doing the rounding to the five cents yet. But they are not dealing with pennies. My change was rounded up to the next nickel and they gave me .50 cents in change so I made a couple of cents on the purchase.

That's part of the plan to remove pennies from circulation - don't give them out as change. Or at least at that chain. This is very new and a few bugs to be worked out so all shops might not be on board yet.

I have my father's old penny collection. He gave it to me years ago in a nice blue book with each year holding a penny and the date mounted below. I heard on the news that 1925 pennies are very rare and worth about $50 so I checked the old penny collection and no luck. The closest I have is a 1926 penny.

I also have a bunch of pennies kicking around in my piggy bank. Might be time to roll them up and take them into the bank.

Playing at the Clova from February 9 to 13, 2013

Playing at the Clova from Saturday February 9th to the 13th is:

7pm - Zero Dark Thirty

9:55pm - The Last Stand

Last show lets out around 11:45pm. Admission is $8, stay for one or both movies. $15 if there are 2 in your party. Add $4 for each extra person.

Playing at the Clova on Friday February 8, 2013

The Clova is playing a documentary called Off the Wall in China for one night only on Friday, February 8, 2013. Show starts at 8pm and costs $24.99.

It features William Jans and his slides of travels through the Philippines and China.

Pancake Breakfast at Cloverdale Legion on Saturday February 9, 2013

The Cloverdale Legion is holding a pancake breakfast this Saturday February 19, 2013 from 8am to 11:30am. Cost is $4.50 and includes pancakes, eggs, sausages, coffee, tea, and an orange juice drink.

The Legion is across the street from the firehall at 17567 - 57th Avenue.

Free Chocolate Samples at Into Chocolate

In the Cloverdale Brick Yard Station - corner of Cloverdale Bypass, 57th Avenue, and Highway 10 - there is a shop called Into Chocolate.

I noticed a sign in their window saying they are giving away chocolate samples until Valentine's Day.

Many find chocolatiers offer one free sample of their wares to a customer trying to make a decision so it would be my guess that Into Chocolate is offering one free sample per person per day. Good promo leading up to Valentine's Day!

Playing at the Clova from February 1 to 7th, 2013

Playing this week at the Clova from Friday February 1st to Thursday the 7th, 2013 is:

7pm - This is 40

9:30pm - Broken City

Last show lets out at 11pm. Admission is $8, stay for one or both movies. $15 for 2 people. Add $4 for each extra person in your group.