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Jenna deJong / Summit Daily News
Newspaper carriers play a vital role in the community
It’s a thankless job: they wake up early in the morning, grab handfuls of the latest newspaper issue, and quietly slide them through hotel lobbies and newsstand vending machines dotted around the county. It is a job that does not allow any days off: they are required to report seven days a week, 365 days a year. If done well, their work goes unnoticed. But if it doesn’t, there are raised eyebrows and frustration.
If there is a day to celebrate and thank them, it’s October 2, also known as National Newspaper Bearers Day.
The holidays are the start of National Newspaper Week animated by the leaders of the association of newspapers. This year marks the 81st celebration, which recognizes the service of newspapers and their employees across North America.
So who are these secretive agents who anonymously broadcast Summit County news? One of those newspaper carriers is Jeff Salquist, a resident of Breckenridge. His 14-year tenure as a transporter began when he worked in the maintenance department at the Beaver Run Resort & Conference Center.
Salquist moved to Minnesota County and has been a local for over 40 years. He got his start in the 1980s when he helped build Beaver Run and has lived in the county on and off since.
Like many others, it was the beauty of the region’s landscapes that won him over.
“There is nothing else like it in the world,” Salquist. “It’s a given. The summers here you can’t compare to anywhere. And winters – that’s why I moved from northern Minnesota because the winters are so harsh there. “
When Salquist made his debut, he was living in Beaver Run employee housing. Her sister had carried the Summit Daily, was leaving her post and suggested that she fulfill her role. Salquist started delivering the newspaper to hotel rooms in Beaver Run at 6 a.m., which typically took around two hours.
Eventually he found a new job and moved out of the Beaver Run employee housing, but continued to deliver the papers, mainly because it provided him with a steady income.
The extra money is also what attracted Bill Linco, a resident of Fairplay. Like Salquist, Linco has had a long tenure as a transporter. It has been present day after day for over 15 years. And although the hours are early, it’s quiet and peaceful enough to make work enjoyable.
“There is something about the serenity that I love to be outside,” said Linco. “It is refreshing.”
The journal is printed in Gypsum each night and travels through Vail Pass before finally being delivered to various drop-off points around the county. Linco’s day usually begins around 2 a.m., when he collects the first stack of papers at Loaf N ‘Jug in Breckenridge. It’s his responsibility to fill all the newsstands in Frisco and Breckenridge, which he says is usually the job of two carriers.
He finishes at 7:30 am, just in time to start his day job, which acts as a property manager for his own small property management company.
If there’s one thing Linco and Salquist want others to know about their work, it’s that the newspaper is printed outside of the community and during the winter months if the newspaper is delayed, it is probably due to transportation issues. Since the newspaper is printed in Eagle County, it can be difficult for drivers to run early in the morning if winter conditions are less than favorable.
The job is not necessarily demanding, but it does require responsible and reliable people to do it well. Linco said he is committed to stocking logs on time so community members and advertisers are happy.
While both play down their vital role in the daily logging process, Linco and Salquist are small parts of a large system dedicated to providing information to community members. For them delivering newspapers is work, but for others in the community their work is necessary in order to access up-to-date information all year round.
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