SUBSCRIBE NOW

Enjoy all your local news and sports for less than 6¢ per day.

Subscribe Now

LOCALS LOVE US: Burnet carrier Tom Yeckle really delivers for voters

Tom Yeckle’s 23-mile route allows him to see people all day long while delivering the mail in Burnet, and that’s why The Picayune readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners voted him their favorite Burnet-area postal worker in the 2015 Locals Love Us awards. Staff photo by Jared Fields

JARED FIELDS • PICAYUNE STAFF

BURNET — Tom Yeckle makes about 800 deliveries every day on his 23-mile route.

The City 1 Route is the oldest in Burnet and serves most of the center of town.

“It’s the very first route; it’s been here forever,” said Yeckle, who’s been a postal carrier in Burnet for 15 years. “It started out on the square and covers all the businesses and all the schools pretty much.”

Because of the route, Yeckle sees hundreds of people a day.

“I see so many people every day, the first three hours of my route is nothing but constant face-to-face contact with people,” Yeckle said.

And to him, that’s why The Picayune readers and KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune listeners voted Yeckle their favorite Burnet-area postal worker in the 2015 Locals Love Us awards.

“I’m the only mailman in Burnet that has face-to-face contact with, like, 100 customers every day,” he said. “I know just about everybody: doctors, lawyers, attorneys, secretaries.”

You get the idea.

“The best thing about this is my customers,” Yeckle said.

The worst part is not the same as his best part, if you’re trying to guess.

“The worst thing about it is the traffic,” Yeckle said. “It’s pretty crazy.”

After circling the courthouse, he travels up U.S. 281 to Burnet High School, then south to Pecan Street and makes a U-turn.

Yeckle retired from the U.S. Navy before coming to the Burnet post office. After 15 years, Yeckle said he plans to spend a few more years there before retiring again.

Until that day, you’ll see Yeckle rain, sleet or snow. If there was snow.

jared@thepicayune.com