Sylvia Regnier retires after 27 years delivering papers

Last Saturday evening Dan and myself, along with Jim and Jody Moritz were guests of Phil Blake and crew of the Ortonville Independent to celebrate Sylvia Regnier’s retirement. Also in attendance were Clark County Courier publishers Bill and Betty Krikac, former Courier publishers David and Marlys Moritz, and Ipswich Tribune publishers, Duane and Tena Gibson.

The celebration was held in Aberdeen at the DEC with more than 40 family, friends, and newspaper publishers in attendance.

Sylvia started driving for the Ortonville Independent 27 years ago. She lives west of Leola which was a good starting point for her picking up newspapers to head to Ortonville where they are printed. When she started driving, she was the soil technician for Natural Resources Conservation Service, based out of Leola. She retired from that career after 22 years in 2005.

We figure Sylvia has driven approximately 600 miles a week, 31,000 miles a year. Multiply that by 27 years and you come up with close to 850,000 miles.

She starts her route after lunch on Tuesdays at about 12:30 p.m.

The route lasts about eight hours, with 22 stops in those eight hours. “The good thing about 22 stops is that you don’t have time to get sleepy!” she commented.

When asked if she has had any  accidents, she commented “None with other vehicles, however, there are eight deer with my name on them. I also got stuck in the wintertime, two times near Orient, however amazing farmers and ranchers always helped me out of my predicaments. There isn’t much traffic that time of night, however you have to look out for Mother Nature.”

“It was a fun experience. I saw many things and met a lot of wonderful people, who have become my friends. Newspaper people and the Ortonville crew are like my family. It was a great run.”

Enjoy your retirement Sylvia, we will miss you.