APRIL 16, 2009 ISSUE
Boone’s Million Mile Mail Man
Boone Postmaster Lee Montgomery (right) hands an award plaque from the National Safety Council to letter carrier Brent Beach, who recently was inducted into the Million Mile Club.
Through snow and ice, rain and fog and everything in between, Boone Postal Service letter carrier Brent Beach has delivered the mail for more than 30 years without causing an accident. To honor this achievement, the National Safety Council awarded Beach with its Million Mile Club recognition on April 9 at the Boone Post Office on Blowing Rock Road.
At the ceremony, Boone Postmaster Lee Montgomery announced that only seven carriers in the state have been inducted into the club this year, and only four have been inducted in the history of the Boone Post Office.
Beach, 56, grew up on Deerfield Road in Boone, where he continues to live to this day. He and his wife Barbara, who works with Allen Wealth Management in Boone, have one daughter, a student at Campbell University.
Beach started working for the Boone Post Office in 1973, when only the downtown post office location existed. He was substitute carrier on Route 4 from 1973 to 1980, when he took on a full-time position on Route 5. In 1989, he switched to Route 1 and has been a familiar face on that route ever since. The rural route takes him through the area around Parkway Elementary School and Roby Greene and Castle Ford roads. In all, Beach has been a Postal Service employee for 36 years.
The road hasn’t always been smooth driving, however. Beach’s vehicle has been involved in a handful of accidents, but none have been his fault. One time, another driver collided with his car, and in the winters, Beach has gotten stuck and had to be pulled out.
But, “like the Boy Scouts, I’ve tried to be prepared and carry with me what I need,” Beach said, including a tub of sand and a set of chains.
A lot of interesting things have happened over the course of Beach’s career. Sometimes, you find strange things in mailboxes, he said.
“I found a dead possum in one one time, and I found a live snake in one another time,” he said.
The most memorable, though, are “the wonderful people who are out there and care about you,” he said. “They know you’ve had a hard day in bad weather, and they worry about you and pray for you. It’s very nice people that I serve.” Plenty of kindhearted people leave gifts of candy and fresh-baked cookies in the mailbox for him at the holidays. One lady on his route will leave a banana or candy bar in the box about once a month.
“That’s pretty neat,” he said.
Despite his recognition as a safe driver, Beach said he doesn’t see himself as talented, skilled or lucky.
“I see myself as a very blessed person,” he said. “My friends and family know me, what kind of roads and situations I’m in, and they pray for me. And I feel like I have an angel looking over my shoulder and helping me drive. It’s kept me out of trouble.”
Beach was eligible to retire last year, but his daughter’s recent decision to attend graduate school has influenced him to stay on a little longer, he said.
“As long as I’m healthy and able to do my job,” he said.
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