A Thorold mailman is looking forward to fishing trips, time with the grandkids, and working on his cars as he gets ready to hang up the bag in September.
Wayne Delano looks back warmly at a career that spans 40 years, 18 incidents where he's been bit by dogs – and 'a couple of girlfriends' that he met while out on his route.
In 1980, following the footsteps of his sister who was the first female mail carrier in St Catharines, Delano went to the post office in search of a job.
But two times he was met with the cold shoulder.
"Both those times I had cut my hair before I went there, but on the third time I came back with long hair, and that's when I got the job," Wayne said to Thorold News.
He credits his persistence over his hairdo as a reason for finally succeeding to land the job – but his blonde mane that he has sported since high school has given him a degree of recognizability that led to a long thread in a local Facebook-group when word got out of his upcoming retirement.
Wayne, who doesn't use social media, was completely unaware of the impression his daily route had made on locals, who recognized the 'long-haired mailman in Thorold South'.
"I was surprised to hear about it... I am one of those quiet guys, don't get too personal kind-of-a-thing. I was happy to hear they were thinking about me," Wayne said.
The job awarded him daily walks, fresh air, and time to think.
There isn't much else to his choice of career or what kept him in it for four decades, he says.
With an unlimited supply of free time coming up, Wayne was hoping to take his car out east to his parent's home province of New Brunswick, but those plans were thwarted by the pandemic.
Instead, more family time and walks with the dog Scoobie and watching sports will be the daily routine for a while.
But one thought has been on Wayne's mind;
He'd like to finish high school.
"School never got my attention to keep going you know... I just wanted to be a mailman. I technically don't have Grade 12. I'd like to get that."
Are you going to miss the route?
"Yeah... I probably will. Already kind of do. It has been a pleasure serving people over the last 40 years."
