Carriers of the Month: Margaret and Eleanor Clowater

July 31, 2013 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

If you have ever opened up your copy of The Auroran around Christmastime and found colourful, hand-drawn holiday greetings placed carefully inside the bundle, chances are you live in the Aurora Heights Drive neighbourhood.

Margaret and Eleanor Clowater

And chances are your papers were delivered by Margaret and Eleanor Clowater.

Margaret and Eleanor, who deliver to over 100 homes in the surrounding area, are The Auroran’s Carriers of the Month for July.

Now over halfway through their summer vacation from Devins Drive Public School, Margaret and Eleanor are keeping themselves busy behind the keys of the piano, playing in their pool, hanging out with friends, and tending to their own vegetable garden boasting bumper crops of tomatoes, corn, beets, grapes, and even a few lima beans.

Between all this, it is a wonder they still have time to deliver the paper, but the Clowaters are a tenacious duo.

“It is really exciting,” says Margaret, a Grade 6 student. “We just started a year ago. My dad signed us up because in the summer we didn’t have a lot to do besides playing outside and stuff, so we decided to do papers to have fun outside.”

Going from door to door, rain or shine, the sisters say they love the chance to take the papers door to door to have a chance to visit and have fun with their neighbours.

“We live close to the trails, forests and parks – and the candy store – so it is really nice to get out,” says Eleanor. “Some people are really friendly and are friends with us and it is really nice we have friendly neighbours.”

The Good Neighbour Policy is a two-way street for the sisters. While they save a bit of the money they make each week on their paper routes to feed their passions for collecting stuffed animals, a portion of their earnings are invariably set aside to help Diana, a little Peruvian girl they sponsor through World Vision. Diana is one of six children and their money goes a long way to help her flourish.

Another portion often goes to charity works at Trinity Anglican Church, their place of worship.

“We give some money to homeless kids and their families and we usually have a dinner where all these people who don’t have food or homes come to our church and eat,” says Margaret.
Through their paper routes, the girls pride themselves on having jobs within the community and they have encouraged a number of their own friends and classmates to sign up to get a piece of the action.

“It is a lot of fun, you get to meet your neighbours and you can have a job before your siblings or friends,” says Margaret.

Adds Eleanor: “You can meet friends you don’t even know!”

Their father, Roger, is on a similar page.

“I think this teaches a lot of things – chief among them is responsibility in the fact that if they do something, they do a god job, then they actually get money from it – and they’re enjoying it as well, so it is the best of both worlds.”

Congratulations, Eleanor and Margaret!