The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday September 3, 2003 - D1 Oakville Beaver Carriers «§£$ DEDICATED TO BRINGING OAKVILLE TO YOUR DOORSTEP Faithfully bringing Oakville the news for over 30 years As Beaver Circulation Manager for over 30 years, Geoff Hill knew the importance of a topnotch delivery team. N ow retired, Mr. Hill shares some memories It was a time when DVDs, cellphones and the Internet weren't even invented yet, if you can believe it. A simpler time when Circulation Manager Geoff Hill, who Geoff Hill began working at The Oakville Beaver in 1973, did paperwork by hand and made appointments with potential carriers each day after school so they could meet in person. A Special Feature saluting th e O akville B eaver d elivery team . PRESENTED BY THE OAKVILLE BEAVER O a k v iik 'i C m m u n it y N e m p a p e r Beaver carrier prize winners, circa 1974 "W hen I started at the paper, I was w orking down on ^ Church St.," says Geoff. " Since O akville w asn't as as it is now, there were only 150 carriers at the tim e."^ * ^ G eoff ran the division by him self and was the first to introduce the voluntary pay system for the paper. -vV · %· ' {.'"'y , '·; At the tim e, the average O akville B eaver carrier was 11 1/2 years old. G eoff, w ho has lived in O akville since 1959, says he has seen a lot o f those kids grow up/*ver the years. C urrently a volunteer at the O akville T rafalgar M emorial H ospital, G eoff retired from M etroland in 1996. tind says he has had m any close en co u n tlrs with form er carriers. " My tw o supervisors have kids who were carriers fohen I was at the paper. I can w alk dow n the street and s in « I've been in the area for so long, I see parents o f kids who w ere carriers when I was the m anager," he says, adding. "Som e o f the people who work in the offices of the paper today started out as carriers - it's alw ays w on derful to see a fam iliar face." D uring his tim e at the O akville Beaver, G eoff says th^ best part o f the jo b was m eeting kids and their par§ after school and deciding w hether or not they right stuff for the job. "It was a lot more personal back then - 1 rf& H B K iakc three appointm ents a day after school h g |[ ^ H r m e e t w ith parents and their kids," he says. J ^ ^ ^ V t i m e everything was done in the hom e, in J j j ^ H r l t w a s th e best part o f the jo b because you r e ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ o k n o w the fam ilies." A lthough it's been a few years s] still rem em bers the fun and kinc C irculation M anager for The Oj| "The carriers and parents w ercj great organization and I never he says. "I enjoyed the people The carriers and people o f O ald get back w hat you put in." I retired, Geoff fe experienced as Beaver. rful - it was a lad any bad times lan anything else, ere fantastic - yo leaver in the W hile m uch has changed for The last 30 years, one thing has stayed thl pap er's carries are still an integral part of f INSIDE... · Carrier profiles · Hand-drawn ads · Photos & more! k I 4