Carriers share lessons learned from Journal newspaper routes

    The carriers responsible for delivering this very newspaper work tirelessly to ensure each copy arrives at the right place at the right time. Winter?s snow, spring?s rain and summer?s heat complicate that task but are obstacles that must be overcome. Randy Williams Jr. has been a carrier for nearly two years, and said he likes the challenges the job throws at him. Williams was recently named the second runner-up in The Journal?s ?Carrier of the Year? awards.

    ?It takes a certain type of person to do this in 30-below-zero weather,? said Williams. ?I don?t mind the cold weather so much. If anything, I mind the hot weather. You can always dress up but you can?t dress down. You can bundle up in the wintertime.?

    Williams normally arrives at The Journal office just before 2 p.m. By 2:30, he has his papers and he?s out the door. Williams is able to do his three routes in about an hour, in large part because he moves quickly.

    ?I run my route,? said Williams. ?I like this job for the exercise. I?ve lost a lot of weight doing it. I?d say I run two or three miles a day.?

    Williams delivers in the downtown area, so he?s constantly running in and out of businesses.  

    ?I talk to the employees in the businesses,? he said. ?I socialize with the business owners and tell them ?Good day,? and say it?s beautiful outside. You can?t just walk in, throw the paper on the counter and walk out. You have to ask, ?How?s your day going? Anything interesting today???

    Williams has a storied past with many of the dogs on his route. The dog named ?Beckham? at Zager?s Plumbing and Heating is sedate and friendly, but a few other dogs jump and bark at him.

    Kendon Hanson was named the runner-up in the Carrier of the Year contest. His father Kurt often helps him with his route. Kurt has helped Kendon and his other children deliver papers for five years. Kendon is out for track, and won?t have time to hand off both the baton and the newspaper, so he is retiring at the end of the week.

    ?When my oldest son was out for football, I did the route,? said Kurt. ?Last year, Kendon was out for track, and I did the route.?

    Kurt said the end of the Hansons? paper route era is bittersweet for him. He?s relieved that he no longer has the responsibility, but saddened by the loss of that bonding moment with his children. 

    During warm weather, the Hansons walk their route. If it?s cold and windy, they use the aid of an automobile.

?If we?re both working, we can get it done in a half hour or less,? said Kurt. ?We?ve delivered when it was really icy, and that?s treacherous. One time, I fell on the road twice in a row because it was so slick. Wooden porches can be really treacherous, too, because they are very slick.?

Does Kendon have big plans for the money he?s making?

?He?s been begging me for an iPod,? said Kurt. ?I haven?t let him get one, but his brother bought one, which is something he keeps reminding me of.?

Kurt said he?s glad his children have had the experience of holding down a paper route.

?This is a good stepping stone,? he said. ?When people find out you had a paper route, that helps you get hired someplace else.?

Alyssa Svatos was named the Carrier of the Year. She said the announcement came as a shock to her.

?I was really surprised,? she said. ?I didn?t expect it.?

 Svatos has been a carrier with The Journal for nearly four years. She delivers papers around the square, on West Monroe and by Green Meadows. Her father James Shepherd drives her from place to place. With his help, she?s able to do her three routes in an hour and a half.

Svatos said she?s gotten to know the people on her route pretty well. She stops to chat with them. They often ask her about her job, and she replies that she likes it. She said she saves some of her money and spends the rest on things she needs such as clothes. She said she enjoys the job, especially when her friends tag along.

?I think I?ll be doing this for awhile,? said Svatos.

Karyl Miller works for The Journal and logs quite a few miles on her car each day at work. Miller delivers papers to nearby towns such as Brighton, Wayland, Crawfordsville and Ainsworth ? a trip that is 66 miles in length. She takes them to post offices, convenience stores and right to the doors of local carriers, who then deliver the newspaper to the subscribers in their town. From start to finish, the process takes an hour and a half.

A few years ago, The Journal needed a substitute for the driver who delivered to the northern part of the county. Miller had afternoons off, so she agreed to do it. Later, she substituted for the driver who covered the southern part of the county. Miller enjoyed the job so much that she went from a substitute to a regular employee.

There has been only one day in her career that Miller could not deliver her route, and that was the day after the blizzard in early February that dumped 18 inches of snow on the county.

For more, see our March 16 print edition.