From the first issue of the first paper published in Marshall, carriers have been the mainstay of the Independent’s distribution system. Every day, through rain and snow, through summer heat or winter’s cold, our carriers have brought the papers to our readers’ doors, with only occasional misplaced tosses into the bushes.

Our carriers are not just school-aged kids. We have grownups, retirees, people who like to get up early and want to start the day with some exercise. We have families who have delivered papers for a decade or more, passing their routes down from older child to younger. Most times, parents are involved as well. It is an old adage that when your kid has a paper route, YOU have a paper route. Paper routes have helped kids learn about responsibility and develop a work ethic that we hope has served them well in later years.

Today is the last day the Independent will be delivered by carriers. Due to business and social factors, the Independent has decided to deliver papers to all subscribers through the mail, starting this coming Tuesday. We know the announcement last week hit these carriers hard. We want to express our deep appreciation to all of our carriers, current and throughout the years.

Thank you for your faithfulness, for your dedication, for trudging through snow drifts and biting wind chills in winter, for keeping papers dry when you were getting soaked by rain and for battling through clouds of mosquitoes in summer. You have been an important part of The Journal’s success through the years. We will always be grateful.