AVON — Saturday was International Newspaper Carrier Day and those who distribute the Hendricks County Flyer were hard at work.

The carriers who distribute the Flyer are independent contractors who work with circulation manager Steven Stremming. He welcomed the carriers on Saturday and thanked them for all of their hard work, before treating them to hot chocolate and doughnuts.

“I’ve talked to other circulation directors and tell them I would put you guys up against any other carriers any time, any day,” Stremming said. “I really do mean that. You do an incredible job.”

The Flyer is published twice a week — Wednesdays and Saturdays. It is a free circulation paper that goes out county-wide, but delivery is only guaranteed to homes who subscribe.

“When we have subscribers, we have a moral obligation to get them a paper,” Stremming said. “If we miss them, we’ll make sure to deliver the paper the next day. Customer service has to be number one.”

The cost of a subscription is $32 per year. Customers who bring in four canned good items to be donated to a local charity pay only $12 for a year’s subscription to the paper

“It’s a great deal,” Stremming said. “And the food we collect goes to the women at Sheltering Wings. We help keep their pantry stocked. It’s important that we give back to the community. This way we are able to donate and people really get a good deal on their paper.”

Stremming took over as the circulation manager for the Flyer Group only four months ago but has worked as an independent contractor for several years.

“I did single copy and Zionsville rounds for three or four years as an independent contractor,” he said. “My first responsibility is to our customers and secondly to our contractors.”

Stremming fields calls from customers for anything from a new subscription to complaints about missed papers.

“I do have a good group of people to work with,” he said.

JD Head has been working with the Flyer’s circulation department since 1992.

“I’ve been doing this a long, long time,” he said. “I’ve seen many circulation directors come and go, many carriers too. Steve is a real good guy. I really enjoy doing it. You get to meet new people and get out of the house.”

He said he misses former Flyer employee Lew Bartolovich, who is now retired.

“He is such a nice guy,” Head said. “I missing seeing him around here.”

Bartolovich had worked for the Flyer Group for several years after he and his wife, Mary Ann, retired from the Indiana Boys’ School. They delivered Meals on Wheels for many years, as well as coordinating circulation for the Flyer.

Scott Doehman is originally from Fort Wayne but now lives in Avon. He has been a carrier for a few years now.

“It’s good part-time income,” he said.

Libby Farr of Avon recently became a carrier after speaking with the person who brought her paper. She said every day she delivers is a little adventure.

“I love looking at the houses,” she said. “I’ve always enjoyed that. I do get a little nervous when I’m delivering on a busy street. The other day I was on Township Line Road in Plainfield. I hate to go slow and make people wait. So I go to throw my first paper and had forgotten to roll down my window. I sure hope the lady behind me didn’t see that.”

She said it’s a perfect part-time job for her and she’s getting quicker and more efficient on her route.

The Newspaper Association of America and the newspaper industry designated Oct. 13 as International Newspaper Carrier Day, a salute to the hundreds of thousands of newspaper carriers who deliver more than 44 million newspapers to more than 100 million readers every day.

To subscribe to the Hendricks County Flyer, call Stremming at 272-5800 ext. 154.

brenda.holmes@flyergroup.com

NAA Newspaper Carrier Hall of Fame

Many former newspaper carriers have achieved great success in business, entertainment, politics, and the press. John Wayne, Warren Buffet and Martin Luther King Jr. are among the dozens of former carriers who are now part of the Newspaper Carrier Hall of Fame, begun in 1960 by the International Circulation Managers Association to recognize former newspaper carriers who have achieved national prominence. The hall of fame is now archived by NAA.

n Business Leaders

Crowdus Baker

Warren Buffett

Curtis L. Carlson

Cleo Frank Craig*

Richard R. Deupree*

Walt Disney*

Benjamin F. Fairless*

Crawford H. Greenewalt*

Eric A. Johnson*

A. Alton Jones*

Garvice D. Kincaid

Mervin Leroy*

Elmer L. Lindseth*

Max McGrew*

H. Ross Perot

C.R. Smith*

David Sarnoff*

Herman W. Steinkraus*

W. Clement Stone

n Education

Dr. Ralph W. Adam Sr.

Glenn T. Seaborg*

Roy E. Simpson*

Robert Gordon Sproul*

n Entertainment

Richard Boone

Joe E. Brown*

James Cagney*

Eddie Cantor*

“Bing” Crosby*

Andy Devine

Jimmy Durante*

Ralph Edwards*

Ernie Ford

Arthur Godfrey*

Bob Hope*

Fred MacMurray

Gordon MacRae*

Lauritz Melchoir

Willard Scott

“Red” Skelton*

Ed Sullivan*

Danny Thomas

Debbye Turner

John Wayne*

n Law Enforcement

J. Edgar Hoover*

Richard S. Kaplan

William H. Parker*

n Literary

Isaac Asimov

Carl Sandburg

n Military

John Glenn

Gen. Wallace M. Green Jr.

Gen. Walter Johnson

Rear Adm. Jack P. Monroe

Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker*

Alan Shepard Jr.

Gen. Thomas Stafford

n Olympians

Christine Witty

n Press

Harold W. Anderson

Tom Brokaw

Barney G. Cameron

Robert “Bob” Considine*

Virgil Fassio

Joseph Forsee

Bill Jardine

C.K. Jefferson

Ray F. Mack

Arthur “Red” Motley

Allen H. Neuharth

James H. Ottaway Jr.

Eugene S. Pulliam

T. Earl Roberts

Carl T. Rowan

Earl Wilson

n Science

Dr. R.L. Bisplinghoff

Wendell M. Stanley*

n Sports

Jack Dempsey*

Julius Erving

Joe Foss

Wayne Gretzky

Woodrow “Woody” Hayes

Rafer Johnson

Mike McCormick

Willie Mays

Jackie Robinson

Bill Rodgers

Phil Simms

“Duke” Snider

n Religious Leaders

Cardinal Richard Cushing

Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin*

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

Cardinal Francis J. Spellman*

n Statesmen

Joseph A. Abey*

Glenn M. Anderson

Dr. Ralph J. Bunche*

Warren E. Burger

Anthony J. Celebrezze

Albert B. Chandler

Tom C. Clark

John N. Dempsey

John G. Diefenbaker

William O. Douglas*

Dwight D. Eisenhower*

Phil Gramm

Ramon John Hnatyshyn

Herbert Hoover*

Martin Luther King Jr.

John W. McCormack

Lester B. Pearson

Charles H. Percy*

Abraham A. Ribicoff

John F. Robarts

Carl E. Sanders

Samuel Silbert

Paul Simon

Harry S. Truman*

Earl Warren*

J.C. Watts Jr.

*Denotes Charter Member