LW contractor re. ects on 40 years of newspaper delivery

FOUR DECADES AND COUNTING

by Emma DiMaggio

Communications Manager

GRF contractor Dan Pomeroy, 71, has spent a lifetime perfecting the art of newspaper delivery.

For the past 40 years, he’s practiced his craft in Leisure World—managing a team of mostly Leisure World residents who deliver the Leisure World Weekly newspaper to 6,608 households each Thursday, like clockwork.

They haven’t missed a paper in 40 years, including the soggy issue that was delivered less than 24 hours after the 1995 rainstorm that flooded the Amphitheater.

“The one thing that hasn’t changed over the years is Dan’s positive attitude,” said resident Judy Ishmael-Chambers, who has delivered papers in LW for 14 years.

In 1964, Pomeroy, then 12 years old, spent his weekday afternoons training for what he hoped would be a fruitful career as an Olympian.

The sport: newspaper throwing. “I could bend it to go up and over the fence and drop right down onto the porch,” Pomeroy said. “To this day, I’m still doing that with my Leisure World paper.” At the time, the Long Beach Press-Telegram paid him $30 a month for 97 deliveries, an amicable salary for an empty-pocketed preteen. On weekdays, he saddled his bike with 50 papers in the front and 50 in the back. It was his first job. “My dad was a paperboy when he was young, so that was kind of like following tradition,” Pomeroy said. “It was a bike route, and I just remember that it was such a great feeling to me, not only to have a job and

7.8 million

The number of issues of the LW Weekly that have been delivered under the oversight of GRF contractor Dan Pomeroy.

Dan Pomeroy (center, in blue) poses with news carriers, many of whom have worked for his company, Eagle Rock Express, for a decade or more.

Emma DiMaggio

make some money, but learning about business.”

The paper didn’t pay the young carriers outright. Instead, each boy had to collect a paper fee from their customers. Some days he’d get paid, plus a bit extra. Other days he’d leave empty handed, having been snuffed enough times that he’d be forced to cancel a customer’s delivery. These early days laid the foundation for Pomeroy’s entrepreneurial spirit.

Later in adolescence, he gave up on the idea of being a renowned sportsman, but held on to his paper route. He delivered afternoon papers through middle school, and then took the 2 a.m. shift in high school. Pomeroy said early morning deliveries in the quiet solitude of night were “magical.”

After a four-year stint in college, he returned to Los Alamitos and picked up another route. Like a newspaper, Pomeroy returned again and again to the same place. He spent the ‘60s and ‘70s flinging issues of the Orange County Register, Press-Telegram and Los Angeles Times.

In 1984, after a successful career as a distribution manager for the Press-Telegram, he landed in Leisure World, contracted to manage the delivery of the Leisure World Weekly, then called the Golden Rain News.

The carriers at the time were skeptical of 32-year-old Pomeroy, the young deliveryman who would manage their weekly operations. He felt that some were not happy about the change in leadership.

One day, while the crew stuffed inserts into the newspapers by the Amphitheater, two carriers began arguing. One was poking fun at Pomeroy and the other defended him.

“I was sitting there in the middle and I remember saying, ‘Hey! We’re all adults here… even though I don’t look like one,’” he recalled. That got a laugh from the group, and the tension diffused. Slowly, he won their trust.

“The core principle of my business is that the employees are the most important aspect of my business,” Pomeroy said. “‘Successful’ employees equal a successful business, and I define a successful employee as someone who enjoys their job and is receiving benefit from their work, on top of a paycheck.”

Today, 80% of LW Weekly carriers are Leisure World residents. Many have spent a decade or more delivering the paper. Carriers often tout the health benefits of walking, social interaction, and increased ties to their community. One pair of carriers even saw benefits in their love life: the two got married after meeting on a paper route.

“Without the paper, we wouldn’t be together,” said Trevor Higgins, who first met his wife Siriporn when she delivered the LW Weekly to his father’s home. He mustered up the courage to ask her out. They’ve been married for 10 years.

Mutual 12 resident Patti Ellsworth delivers 320 papers to Mutual 14 each week and says the benefits of being a carrier go far beyond a bit of fresh air and physical activity.

“Yes, it’s good exercise, but the main reason I’m still walking my route after seven years is because of the delightful residents I see and visit on most weeks,” Ellsworth said. “My life has been enriched by the close friendships I’ve made there.”

Many carriers develop a special bond with the people on their routes, and vice versa.

LW resident Kathy Elliot has been delivering papers for over 10 years. In that time, she’s learned to “keep a knife and a fork in my cart”—she’s frequently invited to stay for dinner. At one point, someone on her route recognized her signature perfume scent and took it upon themselves to gift her a fresh bottle every Christmas.

The carriers who aren’t residents still have close ties to Leisure World. EagleRock Services’ youngest carrier is 16-year-old JT Houston, whose grandmother lives in Leisure World.

“Delivering papers was my dream job,” said JT’s mother Karen Houston, who delivers papers when JT has other obligations. “My parents would never let me because they had paper routes growing up and hated the job. When Dan gave me the opportunity to take a route, I was thrilled. Then I asked, ‘Can my son help and take over when he is old enough?’” Now, JT manages his own route, delivering papers each week and riding his bike to the bank to deposit his checks. “He gets to spend the money how he wants,” his mother added.

Pomeroy manages 23 carriers, a number that has fluctuated throughout the years. Their objective may seem simple—deliver the newspaper—but many Leisure World carriers provide customized service, and that service can get complicated.

On any given Wednesday night or Thursday morning, papers thwack onto the doorsteps of nearly every household in

“

—Dan Pomeroy, GRF contractor

Eagle Rock Express owner Dan Pomeroy (center, in blue) poses with carriers who confront wind, rain and scorching heat to deliver the LW Weekly to every household in LW. Leisure World. As soon as the News Office opens, the phone starts to ring.

One person wants their paper placed on their patio table instead of the ground, as it’s too hard for them to bend over and pick it up. Another person is going on vacation and needs their delivery stopped for three weeks exactly. In one building, a particularly strong breeze has blown a few newspapers onto a greenbelt—those papers will need rubber bands next week.

“I have this service-minded personality,” Pomeroy said. “The paper has to be in the right place or I don’t feel right, and I think somehow my carriers pick that up from me. It’s not like I have instructions on how to deliver papers, but the carriers all seem to have that sort of service mindset.”

Though no carrier is required to meet every request, many fulfill them willingly, even enthusiastically.

“Dan is a treasure of personalized customer service in this world of automation. He sets the tone for his carriers, making resident satisfaction a top priority,” said Communications Director Ruth Osborn, who started working in Leisure World just two years after Pomeroy. “We are so lucky to have him.”

Gathered for a photo on Sept. 31, carriers talked amongst themselves. Topics of discussion include the locations of hidden sprinkler systems and how to spot late evening spider webs. Each is an expert of their route’s unique terrain.

“My biggest enemy is the freezing gusts of wind. It makes me appreciate the mail carrier so much,” said carrier Siriporn Higgins. “But we learn to work with the heat; wearing hats, sunscreen, insect repellent, a light color top that breathes, and walking in the shade when we can. We own raincoats, waterproof boots and goggles.”

These carriers know who will be waiting outside for their paper at the crack of dawn, who’s out of town, which dogs are nice and which should be avoided, which buildings have long entryways and the best strategies for hauling hundreds of newspapers at a time.

Pomeroy, who has delivered to every Mutual at one point or another, is on hand to provide tips.

In 40 years, he’s only fired one carrier: a young man, hired at the recommendation of a colleague, who had a eureka moment: delivery would be much faster if he drove his car straight onto the greenbelt. He made it onto the greenbelt, but didn’t get very far. He was fired immediately.

These days, Pomeroy can be found distributing bundles of newspapers on Wednesday afternoons and rolling around in his news cart: a sight enjoyed by a portion of Mutual 15, where he maintains a weekly delivery route.

“I’ll keep doing it as long as it’s fun,” he said.

When he drops off papers at the News Office, Pomeroy remarks on advertising and asks if the LW Weekly will go up to 36 pages anytime soon. They’re heavier, he notes, but they’re also easier to aim than a 28-pager.

The young would-be Olympian hasn’t left him.

Papers arrive at the Amphitheater every Wednesday at an undetermined time. Once they arrive, Pomeroy sends out a text and carriers begin trickling into the Amphitheater to pick up their stacks. Carriers then have until 8:30 a.m. Thursday to deliver the papers to the Mutuals on their assigned route. Later in the morning, a carrier delivers replacements to any unit missing a paper.