90-year-old paperboy is now 'local celebrity'
ONE of Britain's oldest paperboys has celebrated his 90th birthday with a well-earned weekend off.
Local legend Stan White has been getting up at the crack of dawn six days a week to deliver The Post for his local newsagent on his bike for the past 26 years.
-
Stanley White who is 90, has been delivering The Post for the past 26 years for Good News Newsagents in Downend Picture: Simon Galloway BRSG20130111A-005
Such is his dedication that Mr White received a "news deliverers' merit award" at the National Federation of Retail Newsagents awards in London in October 2011.
That award followed hot on the heels of a trophy he was presented with by his boss Teresa Anderson, presented to mark 25 years of service to Good News in Downend.
Enjoy one free child admission with a full paying adult ticket.
Terms: Not to be used in conjunction with any discounted ticket or special ticket offer. No cash alternative. Excludes Bank Holidays and Bank Holiday Weekends. Ref: This is Bristol Website Voucher
Contact: 01963 400330
Valid until: Friday, January 31 2014
But for once this weekend he is taking Saturday off so friends and family can come and visit him at his Queensholm Crescent home.
He told The Post: "I have got friends coming from Plymouth and Taunton to visit and it is my 90th birthday so I have taken the day off. It will be nice to have a long weekend."
Before Mr White was a paper- boy he was very proud to work for 47 years as a train driver for GWR and then British Rail.
"If you work on the railways for 47 years you have no problem with early starts," he said.
"I'm usually awake and ready to go before my alarm goes off just before 6am."
While still one of the fittest pensioners out there Mr White admits he has come off his bike a few times recently.
"It's usually when I get stuck in traffic and people are dropping their school kids off," he said.
"Sometimes I come to a stop and there is nowhere to put my feet. Kids normally rush over and pick me up."
Despite his increasing years Mr White says he has no intentions of stopping his job.
"I will keep going until I don't have the strength to keep going anymore," Mr White said.
"Why would I? I enjoy it and seem to have become a bit of a local celebrity. It's a good incentive to get up in the morning, and I like to feel I am doing something worthwhile."
Showing he still loves a joke he added his favourite railway joke: "Why don't engines like sitting down? Because of their tender behind."
Boss Mrs Anderson, who inherited Mr White when she started running the shop 16 years ago, said: "He is wonderful. It doesn't matter what the weather is like – he is always here – you can set your watch by him in the morning.
"I can only think of him being off sick about three days in all the time I have been here. He is very reliable.
"He has a lot of friends on his round and has built up a good rapport. A lot of them will make him a cuppa if it's cold in the morning. On Saturdays I think he might even get a bacon sandwich. He is a local celebrity."
Comments
by harveyfe
Sunday, May 12 2013, 12:36PM
“He "has been getting up at the crack of dawn six days a week to deliver The Post... for the past 26 years".
Yet, until the early 2000s, the paper was not published until late morning. Rising at dawn would be needlessly early.
And last year it reduced frequency of publication to five days a week. Hence getting up at all, let alone at the crack of dawn, to deliver it on a sixth day would be even more futile.”