After 46 years, Hunerdosse delivering Ledgers again

?It?s not something you forget how to do,? said Bob Hunerdosse on a scorching hot, Monday afternoon with a Fairfield Ledger carrier bag over his shoulder. ?Even after 46 years, the routine came back quickly.?

Hunerdosse said ?yes? last week when his Ledger carrier Danny Goettsche asked him if he?d substitute his routes for a few days.

?I was just sitting on the porch one day when Danny came by and said I didn?t look too busy,? said Hunerdosse. ?Subbing the routes was an easy decision. I?ve enjoyed it.?

The heat made things a little challenging.

?I forgot to get a drink of water last night when I came back to the house for the rest of the papers,? he said. ?The last couple of blocks, I was regretting not having the water.?

Hunerdosse carried The Ledger for five years as a teenager until 1965. He retired in May from his long-time job at the Dexter Foundry, now Revstone Castings Fairfield.

Armed with a route list, rubber bands, 63 Ledgers and a sweatband around his forehead, Hunerdosse finished the task in an hour and 10 minutes. Walking between houses, he efficiently slid a rubber band from around his forefinger and middle finger and over a rolled up Ledger without looking. He said rubber bands and plastic bags weren?t used in the 1960s.

?In the old days, we folded the papers into neat, flat squares and tossed them like Frisbees,? he said. ?Most carriers rode bikes and had a basket in front. We threw them from the sidewalk and it was a challenge to see if we could make it on the porch. If you missed, you went back. I remember you had to be careful not to dent the aluminum doors. Better to be short a little than hit the door.?

Ledger routes were generally larger in those days.

?My route was 78 papers when I started and was over 100 when I left,? said Hunerdosse. ?It started at B and Burlington and went all the way to Chautauqua Park and the railroad tracks.?

He was noticed one day by Fairfield High School track coach Lee Crew when he was running his route.

?I guess he was impressed I was running,? said Hunerdosse. ?Track ended up being my sport.?

Present-day technology even enters into the newspaper carrier job today, said the three-day Ledger substitute.

?There?s a tool on the computer that will tell you the length of your run or walk,? said Hunerdosse. ?Danny?s route is 2 1/4 miles. I put my old route in there and it was about the same length. But I think I was a little faster back then.?