Terry Griggs submitted a recent anniversary along with a memory of his Courier carrier days. He and his wife Patricia celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in December. They live in Pennsylvania.

He had two routes, one delivering the Courier through the business district — hotels, restaurants, etc., about 20 copies each, for resale. He’d return to the Courier to stock up again for his regular delivery route to homes.

He walked from the Courier, to Hackberry Street, behind Ottumwa High School and delivered the newspaper to both sides of the street. When Hackberry stopped, he turned left on to North Ash, then west on to Center Avenue, continuing out Stellar Avenue to the city limits. He ended past the former Sunnyslope location.

Griggs said, “There was a grouping of homes off Stellar Avenue where I would have my ‘assistant’ deliver that grouping while I finished the main route.

“I would then walk home on Walnut, past what used to be Franklin Jr. High school, and to my home at 2001 E. Main Street, which was torn down to make the turn onto the Bypass.”

He said that he thinks he had the largest and longest paper route at that time, delivering over 300 papers.

“As I couldn't carry them all from the start, there were two drops made by the Courier where I would refreshen my load and take off again,” he said. “There used to be a pharmacy at the corner of North Ash and East Fourth Street where I would pick up a soft drink while I would await my first drop.”

He made about $13 a week and was able to buy his family’s first TV, a 17-inch, black-and-white Motorola table model, having it delivered and the antenna/rotor installed the day before Eisenhower was sworn into office.

“This was done so I could take the day off from school to watch his inauguration on TV.  That was acceptable,” he said.

“I also bought a ‘humdinger’ of a bicycle, a Shelby,” he said. “In both cases, I paid approximately $3 a week to pay them off.”

During visits to Ottumwa, he drives his old Courier route, noting the houses that were gone, abandoned, burned down or torn down from abandonment. That happened, he surmises, “due to the devastating effect of the meat packing company, Morrell, moving out.”

His story sounds so much like my Bernie’s who got a paper route after the 1947 flood when many young carriers quit. Bernie, too, saved enough to buy a nice bicycle.

We all do a lot of hard work here at the Courier during the day and night. But, it is those carriers who deliver your paper who make our business successful. As my boss tells me, it doesn’t matter what you put in the newspaper, if the customers don’t receive it.

Thanks to all of our carriers who deliver the newspaper to your doorstep or newspaper box.