Sixteen Palatine mail carriers earn safe driving honor

After years of working through rain, sleet, snow and heat, 16 Palatine Post Office letter carriers received the Million Mile Award for safe driving at a ceremony Thursday morning, the United States Postal Service announced.

Each employee was nominated for the award after driving without being involved in a preventable motor vehicle accident for a cumulative total of 1 million miles, or 30 years.

The letter carriers honored were Mark Thieme, Robert Milostan, Brian Wijas, Bill Zaker, Kenneth Dems, Mike Callahan, Mark Kurpiel, Terry Jones, Martha Ackerman, Don Wilke, Ron Kiefer, Steven Jorwic, Leonard Hall, Gregg Llyod, Mario Flores, and Wayne Williams.

The Palatine Post Office is home to 71 delivery routes and recorded only one motor vehicle accident for the entire year during 2014.