Local contract mail carrier nets coveted award

By JACOB DORAN / Bigfork Eagle

There are many things in life that we take for granted—like the fact that "neither now nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night" will keep the bills from showing up in our mailboxes or our packages from being delivered.

However, not all mail carriers—contract carriers in particular—are the same. As noble as the profession may seem, some mail carriers are certainly more dedicated—and friendly—than others.

That is one reason for the Eagle Spirit Award for excellence in contract service. The award singles out individuals who go above and beyond the call of duty to build and maintain a reputation of excellence in the performance of their duties.

Each year, one carrier per region in the U.S. is chosen as a worthy recipient of the Eagle Spirit Award. Only six carriers are chosen, in all, for the entire country. That makes it even more significant that a local contract carrier was both nominated for and received the award.

Such was the case with Paul H. Vosburgh, whose route extends from Bigfork to Condon and who received the Eagle Spirit Award three weeks ago. Vosburgh was nominated by Bigfork postmaster Ken Ross for 18 years of diligent service to the area, after which the nomination went through several levels of review, eventually earning him the Eagle Spirit Award for the Western Region of the United States.

"I recommended him for it because he deserved it," Ross said. "He wouldn't be getting it if he weren't reliable. He shows up when he's supposed to. He covers his route. He does everything right. He does an exceptional job, and he's been doing it for years."

Because of the nature of the award and the fact that so few people are chosen to receive it, Vosburgh said his nomination and subsequent approval came as a surprise.

"I was very humbled," said Vosburgh, adding that he didn't feel like he had done anything great. In fact, he felt that what he does is simply part of his job and that job is something he enjoys doing.

"The road isn't even that bad in the winter," he said. "I get to see elk and deer and bears crossing the road once in a time. If I don't want to be in a rush, I don't have to be in a rush."

Eighteen years is a long time to be doing the same thing, and Vosburgh said he's seen a lot of changes during that time. There are houses on his route that weren't there when he started. Some people have moved on. Others moved in. Some got older and some grew up.

"When I started, these little kids were four years old, waiting for the school bus," Vosburgh recalled with a hint of nostalgia. "Now they're in college."

Even though Vosburgh has been a mainstay to the Swan route for close to two decades, he actually worked for the USPS in 1962-64. Back then, he was making 95 cents an hour.

After that, he worked with the New York Narcotics Commission for three years. Then, he went to work for the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, from which he retired in 1988 and moved to Montana.

When he first moved here, he lived in Swan Lake, where he saw a sign for the contract job on a bulletin board and put in a bid to do the route. He did not initially get the job, but the lady who later pulled out and someone from the Denver office called to see if he still wanted the job.

"Everything has just blossomed from there," Vosburgh said. "It's amazing how things work out."

Vosburgh later moved to the Lower Valley area, where his wife runs a boarding business for dogs. They now live on Somers Road, north of Somers, but that hasn't stopped Vosburgh from making the trek to Condon six times a week along a route he has come to love, for the people to whom he still feels a sense of duty, if not friendship.

And those people have come to anticipate seeing Vosburgh, whom they appreciate for his friendliness and dedication.

"He's just a real good guy," Joe Watmuff of the Swan River Trading Post said. "He does a good job. Of course, he and I are both from the East Coast, so we hit it off pretty good."

But then, so do most of the people who look forward to Vosburgh making his rounds.

As stated in the letter he received from Karen Pompanella, United States Postal Service Service Transportation CMC manager in Washington D.C., "From the comments we have received, you have consistently demonstrated the quality, dedication, leadership and spirit embodied by the image of the American Eagle, the namesake for this award."

Which just goes to show that there are still some mail carriers who proudly identify with the old postal motto: "Neither snow nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."