My family has been connected with The Berkshire Eagle for decades. My siblings started a paper route in the Union / Summer / Columbus / Francis streets area in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. It was passed on down the line making it to me eventually.
That paper route brought in actual money into our large, struggling family, money for us kids that our parents didn’t have to give us. We never had allowances – we had jobs! And I will always be grateful to The Eagle for that.
That route also was our first real experience in how the real world worked, how to handle money, be responsible, be held accountable if a paper wasn’t delivered. Today, the idea of a paper route sounds quaint, nostalgic and even cliché. In reality, it provided income and invaluable real-world experience for us kids.
My very first job ever was with the Eagle. I remember being 6 or 8 years old. My mother would hand me three newspapers and I would walk across the street to the apartment building across from our house and drop off three newspapers to three apartments.
I remember being very proud of myself because I had a job and was helping out just like the grown-ups and I got to walk across the street all by myself! (With my mother watching from our porch, of course.)
In addition to the route, I, my mother Stella and my 4 siblings also worked Friday nights on Eagle Street inserting the Saturday ad fliers into the paper. We’d show up around midnight, I’d get all cranked up on Pepsi and work until 4 a.m. for cash (also very exciting)!
Once we grew up, Stella started working steadily in the mailroom as an actual employee for many years. She retired from there a number of years ago. To this day, she still gets stopped on the street by former and current Eagle employees to catch up.
She still gets the paper delivered every day like clockwork and reads it at breakfast. She doesn’t bother with TV or radio for her information. All the information she gets about the area she gets from The Eagle.
Thank you Ted Kozlowski and your family for your part in making this community what it is today. We’re in this together.