By Bill Shearman | Special to the American Press

“They only come out at night.” — Edgar Winter, 1982.

The American work ethic begins at 11 p.m. for Richard and Annette Winn. That’s when they collect their newspapers from the American Press’ printing plant and begin throwing their route.

“I drive and she folds,” said Richard, 79. What began 43 years ago as a little extra money for a young family continues today without a hint of retirement.

“It’s our quality time,” said Annette, 78. Their route is 525 households and they’re usually through at 5 a.m. It used to be seven nights a week, now down to five.

It takes longer when it rains. They also used to cut yards. “We had 90 customers. We’d just stagger their yards. Our grandchildren help now because we just had to quit something,” Annette groans, wistfully.

Richard also has a day job. He works 32 hours a week at the Sale Street Albertsons in the meat department.   

They met in the George Theriot Supermarket on Hwy. 171. Annette would go in to get something for her mother and flirt with the handsome man with the soft blue eyes in the meat department.

“I’d always forget something,” she cooed, smiling. It all clicked. That was 59 years ago.

They have always worked. Richard worked at Abe’s Supermarket for 28 years and has been at Albertsons for 25. When they met, Annette was working two jobs: one at a daycare center till 5 and then  another at Inn On the Bayou.

In a classic understatement, Annette said, “We’re not lazy people.”

The American Press converted to a morning paper in 1980. That meant the paperboys couldn’t throw a morning route while riding their bikes in the dark and then go to school.

Annette said, “A girl came to our house to collect. She said she was going to give up her route because she couldn’t handle the hours. Our kids were young (Cindy, now 58, Richard Jr., 55 and Cheryl, 48) and they were growing out of their clothes daily, it seemed.”

They began with one route of 115 papers. That grew to four routes and over 600 customers. They drove about 90 miles a morning.

In time, the Winns also began stocking papers in 30 newspaper racks, 25 to a rack, and collecting the change. “We’re down to four racks now,” said Annette. “It was just too much.

“There was a lot of theft, even vandalism. You can use a slug (shaped like a coin) to get the papers. One time, we found a token from Mr. Gatti’s in a paper rack,” said Richard.

Newspaper carriers are independent contractors, not newspaper employees, but they are vital cogs in the business. Newspapers discount the cost of the papers to their carriers and therein lies the profit margin.

Carriers provide their own vehicles, insurance, gas, oil and tires.

“We’ve completely worn out five cars,” said Richard. There are no more door-to-door collections; subscribers pay the American Press directly and the Winns get a check twice a month.

It can sometimes get exciting when you are the only car on the roads in the early mornings. “The police stopped us once and said we were ‘driving erratically,’” laughed Richard, adding, “Yeah, we do.”

“Another time, someone called the police and said they thought we were driving drunk. The police stopped us and when they saw we had a car full of papers, they just laughed and told us to be careful.”

“We’ve never had an accident but I did back into a ditch once,” said Richard. They called for help, got the car out and finished their route.

If one of them is sick, the other person does the route by themselves. When newspapers stack up at a subscriber’s home, the Winn’s pick them all up.

“That’s what burglars look for, that and mail that stacks up. Mr. Woods (Curtis, longtime circulation director at the American Press) told us that when he gave us our first route.

“He scared me to death when I first met him. He had a tough job but he always treated us kindly and with the greatest respect,” said Annette.

They send every subscriber a Christmas card early in December. The result is a little bonus when the subscribers respond with checks and cash. And thank you notes.

“We’ve enjoyed it. You get to know your customers. And I guess you can say we are dependable,” said Annette.