Lake Geneva delivers with mail boat rides and guided walks.(Going Places)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), August, 2004

Byline: Mike Michaelson Although delivery provided by the U.S. Postal Service is popularly dubbed "snail mail," you'd never know it by watching carriers at work on Geneva Lake in Wisconsin. Going about their "appointed rounds," they look more like they're trying out for the Olympics. They are required to sprint, hop, step and jump.

Even to become carriers on this route, they first must undergo strenuous tryouts. Their route serves estates around Geneva Lake and uses a mail boat to make deliveries. Continuing a tradition begun in 1873, mail is delivered to the docks of 60-70 residences. The challenge for mail carriers is that the boat doesn't stop. As it cruises close to jetties, the carrier must leap off, make the delivery (or pickup) to a mailbox and...