When Larry Schroeder showed up for work in the warehouse at the Greensburg Daily News on Friday, the lights were off and his colleagues were hiding.
But it wasn’t because they were avoiding him. Instead, they were preparing to surprise him on his 90th birthday.
At about 8:30 a.m. on Friday, Schroeder arrived at the back entrance of the news office to pick up his stack of newspapers he would be delivering that day. When he opened the door to the darkened room, his friends and co-workers shouted “surprise.”
“I knew there was something fishy going on,” Schroeder said after the ambush.
He added that he may have had it figured out when he was told not to come in until 8:30 a.m. to pick up his papers.
After he shook a few hands and was greeted with many wishes of a happy birthday, Schroeder strolled over to the table where a big white birthday cake awaited him. In honor of his 52 years as part of the newspaper delivery team, the cake was decorated and made up to look like a copy of the newspaper. It featured headlines like “Birthday Cake For All” and “Rumors Of Birthday Party.” But the day’s big news proudly proclaimed “Happy 90th Birthday Larry.”
While Schroeder’s co-workers enjoyed coffee, nuts, cake and soda in honor of his birthday, Schroeder was able to reminisce about his life in Greensburg and Decatur County.
Schroeder has lived in the county of all his life. When he was a kid, his father bought a farm in Millhousen and he continued to attend school. Schroeder said a lot of things had changed since he was a young man, but there was one thing that had not.
“I’ve had a paper route for 52 years,” Schroeder said proudly.
In 1981, Schroeder retired from his primary place of employment, at Ripley County Beverage.
“I was a beer salesman,” he explained.
He was with the company when it was known as Decatur County Beverage, until it was sold and became known under its new name.
When he retired in 1981, his first wife had already passed away and his son wanted him to remain active and still have something to do, Schroeder said. It was then that he decided to stay on and continue delivering copies of the Greensburg Daily News.
Even though it was birthday on Friday, Schroeder didn’t have the day off. He still had stacks of papers that needed delivering after his party. Like he does almost every day, he loaded up the copies in his car and headed off into town on his paper route.
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