For carriers like Cerra, today's a special day

Nothing can stop Lucy Cerra from delivering the newspaper directly to her customers’ doors in Leisure Park.

A carrier for the Coeur d’Alene Press, Cerra’s day begins while most people are asleep, around 2 a.m.

In the dark, peaceful hours of the morning, she witnesses things that many others miss, from low-flying planes to owls catching their prey.

Seven days a week, 365 days a year, regardless of the weather, she completes her route. In the winter, she dons a pair of cleats so she won’t slip on the ice. And each paper goes to the door, hand-delivered. That detail is important to her.

“I treat everyone like I would treat my parents,” she said.

Today, Oct. 13, is International Newspaper Carrier Day, which celebrates the hundreds of thousands of people like Cerra who deliver the news to Americans each week.

“Our newspaper carriers are the lifeblood of our business,” said Bill Bollinger, Press circulation director. “Until those stories are in the hands of our readers, we’re not successful.”

Cerra began delivering newspapers three years ago. Because she cares for her son, Josh, who is developmentally disabled, she needed a source of income that worked with her schedule. Delivering papers turned out to be the perfect fit for her family. Her newspaper-carrier earnings made it possible for her to buy another car.

She said her work is rewarding in more ways than one.

“I have relationships with my customers,” she said. “They know me.”

One woman baked her a pie on Thanksgiving because she worried Cerra wouldn’t have time to bake. Another woman on Cerra’s route greets her with a hug each morning and often invites her inside to warm up with a cup of coffee. Cerra recalled many other gestures of appreciation, big and small. She said her customers are a blessing.

“You get people who are so kind. It warms your heart,” Cerra said. “In this day and age, some people can get so angry and wrapped up in things that don’t matter. Human relationships and kindness are what matter. We lose sight of that.”

Bollinger said the newspaper industry started with “little boys hawking newspapers on street corners.” Suburban expansion, as well as the switch from afternoon to morning publication, led to a transition from youth carriers to adult carriers. It’s detail-oriented work that requires the right kind of person, he said.

Different departments work together to make the newspaper, from writers and editors to advertising and production staff. At the end of the line, newspaper carriers get the product into the hands of readers.

“To some people, that newspaper is important,” Cerra said. “We’re bringing information to the public. We’re providing a service to the community.”

For Cerra, delivering newspapers has become more than a way to provide for her family. There are days she’d rather sleep in, she said, but she always gets up — because of the people she has met on her route.

“When I do my route in the morning, that’s my time, and it restores my faith in humanity,” she said.