'The Paper Guy' retires

It’s a typical, bustling Wednesday morning for Mark Hafner, who has a van full of 2400 “hot off the presses” issues of The Daniel Island News to deliver. Thankfully, on this particular day, the sun is shining, which will certainly make the job much more pleasant.

“Monsoon deliveries don’t work very well,” he says grinning, while rushing a stack of the paper’s May 26 issue to waiting racks in Daniel Island’s commercial corridor, his main route. “I can take wind or rain, but when they’re together - it’s brutal! Sometimes with rain, I just have to go home and wait it out!”

But not today. The skies are picture perfect, a bright and promising way to frame Hafner’s last official day on the job. After eight years of faithfully delivering this community’s news to island businesses, Hafner, affectionately known to many on his route as “the Paper Guy,” is retiring. The Georgia Tech graduate hopes to use his newfound time to explore his options and perhaps start some new projects.

When Hafner, a native of Indiana, began the job in February of 2007, his son, Justin, was just over a year old and rode with him in a car seat in the back of Hafner’s van. Justin is now 10 years old, and his older sister, Annalise, is a rising junior in high school. A stay-at-home Dad and husband to wife, Kellye, Hafner took the paper route as a way to get out of the house and earn some extra money. But as the days, weeks, months, and even years progressed, he learned there were other perks.

“I like that it keeps me moving, but at the same time I have the freedom to stop and chat,” he said. “And there’s a couple of guys I’ll stop and chat with every time!”

Hafner jokes the experience has given him plenty of “10 second relationships,” because that’s usually all the time he has in between deliveries to keep on his schedule, which begins at 7:30 am. Aside from learning how to dodge the occasional bad weather, he’s also gleaned a few other pearls…such as what to do about his ink-stained hands and steering wheel.

“I learned early on you can’t wear a white shirt!” he said. “It’s got to be colored!”

Hafner is certainly a familiar face in Orlando’s, JKI Karate, O2 Fitness, Daniel Island Animal Hospital, Daniel Island Dentistry, Crescent Moon Orthodontics, Publix, and a host of other island-based businesses. He not only drops off new issues, but picks up the old ones, a process that actually provides keen insight on the island’s business climate, he said.

“I’m probably one of the few people that is never surprised when an island business that caters to the public closes. Because I see pick-ups go from very small to everything that I put down the week before, at times.”

Hafner also knows which issues are likely to draw the most interest.

“It has to do with the picture on the cover,” he said. “About 90 percent of what my pick-up totals are related to the picture! Patriotic stuff is usually really good!…The picture is definitely the tell-tale sign.”

As he breezes into Quiznos with a stack of papers under his arm, he spots two Daniel Island-based police officers with Team 5 enjoying lunch (the Team 5 office is another stop on his route). Laughter and camaraderie ensures as the three recognize each other.

“That’s the kind of thing that makes it fun!” said Hafner, as he leaves the shop for his next stop.

No doubt he will miss all the friendly “hellos” and “thank you’s” he’s heard along the way over the last eight years. Someone else will be along soon to take over the route. But this delivery man has clearly left his mark. Finishing up last Wednesday, he paused in his van, eyeing over the remaining bundles of papers stacked below the front passenger’s seat.

“I’m really going to miss Mark and his contribution to the paper,” said publisher Sue Detar. “Not only did Mark deliver the papers in a timely and professional manner, he also always brought news tips our way as he is usually the first to see new business openings and closings.”

“I only have six bundles left,” he said. “We’re close. I always get nervous at the end…but it usually works out.”

It certainly does. Thank you, Mark, from all of us at The Daniel Island News, for a job well done!