This was always a welcome sign. This was the last street sign on my paper route and after two more houses on Lafayette Street, it was time to walk back home.
For five and a half years, (which I think might be a record) I delivered the Troy Daily News (now the Miami Valley Today) on the south portion of Clay Street between Young and Lafayette Streets. Every weekday those papers were delivered by 5 pm and on weekends they were at homes by 8 am. I’ll admit, I was fortunate to have help from either my mom or dad on those Sunday mornings when the papers were huge.
Weekends were filled knocking on doors collecting the $2.25 per week from customers and getting to know the people in the neighborhood. There was the retired couple, where the husband loved to bake on Saturday mornings and if I was lucky, I could snag a freshly made cinnamon roll. There was the one guy who had a factory job and weird hours that made it hard to collect from. There was the young single mom who you could just tell was having a hard time making ends meet, but was always happy to pay for the paper. It was a diverse neighborhood made up of all people at different stages and walks of life.
One of my favorite stops on the route was the retired lady who lived alone. She was wheelchair bound and I always placed the paper in the makeshift newspaper holder in her screen door. On summer days when her front door was open, I would open the screen door and announce, “Hey Mrs, Simon, it’s me Billy, I have your paper on the dining room table, everything good today?” She would always respond, “Yes, thank you!” Mrs. Simon loved jigsaw puzzles and if a neighbor was having a garage sale, I’d always try to buy one for her as a small gift.
And like any good salesman, if you are going to sell a product, you need to know the product. At a fairly young age, I read the newspaper every day. I knew what was happening in my community and I knew what was happening in the world. I read about the world changing in the newspaper when the Soviet Union collapsed and the Berlin Wall fell.
And with each paper that was delivered, with each knock on a door and with each bill that was paid in full and on time every week, the values of dedication and responsibility were being instilled in me every day. I am grateful for those wonderful experiences.
It’s those values of dedication and responsibility that I am bringing to this campaign to be the next Mayor of our great community. Would you join me on this campaign? Learn more at www.williamlutz.org
