Postal worker receives award
How many of you have driven more than a million miles?
Frankie Hutchison has.
The Postal Service honored Hutchison Tuesday with a Certificate of Recognition for having successfully driven more than 1 million miles accident-free — a particularly noteworthy achievement considering the postal service's bravado about not letting extreme weather get in the way of delivering the mail.
"And I have a rough route,"Hutchison said of her Karns City/West Sunbury route. "It's 74 miles a day on mostly back roads. One stop is six miles back a dirt road. I've plowed lots of mud."
She has gone through more than five vehicles in her 30 years of delivery, and said that carriers often have their vehicle in the shop because of the nature of the job.
"You have your ups and downs here — like any job," she said.
She has spent the last 16 years of service to the post office on her current route. Previously, she had been on a different route for her first 14 years. She was also honored for those 30 years of service. Both awards were given by Donald Snyder, manager of post office operations.
"I'm embarrassed,"Hutchison said. "But I'm proud."
"This is very exciting," she said of being an awardee. "Iwasn't expecting all of this."
She received an honorary recognition pin for her time of service, and a plaque to commemorate her millionth mile. Along with the plaque, she received an expert driving award certificate. Thinking back on all the deliveries she has done, she begins to laugh.
"I'm a storyteller," she jokes."Some Icould never repeat. You learn all the swear words doing this. And you even make some of your own up. But it's been a lot of fun."
She plans to enter into the postal service's Officer in Charge program. The officer in charge learns from the postmaster and is essentially the assistant, Hutchison said.
Until then, she will continue to rack up miles, braving the fiercest of elements, perhaps on the way to her next milestone.
