Geneva residents honor their letter carrier of 10 years with celebration

It's always a beautiful day in the neighborhood every afternoon when letter carrier Steve Hicks makes his rounds on Woodward Avenue in Geneva.

Hicks has been serving Woodward and the surrounding streets for the past 10 years, delivering smiles and good cheer along with the mail.

Last month residents decided to honor Hicks with a party to celebrate a decade of service through rain, shine and snow.

Sixty-one residents attended the party for Hicks, which was so big that residents went to the Geneva Police Department ahead of time to block off the street.

Everyone brought food and, for a finishing touch, a cake was made decorated with the U.S. Mail symbol.

"Why not do something nice for somebody? Too often people just talk negative and I thought this would be a good thing for whole neighborhood," said Georgia Fessler, a Woodward resident who organized the whole event.

Last year Hicks told her in passing that July 2009 would be his 10th anniversary on his Geneva route. Fessler marked the date on her calendar and set to planning, eventually creating committees of neighbors to handle all aspects of the party planning.

"I've been here for over 46 years in my same house... and we always had nice mailmen. Steve happened to be special just because of the way he acts. He's so friendly all the time," Fessler, 72, said.

Fessler told Hicks ahead of time to come back to Woodward after he had finished work for the day so that the neighborhood could honor their favorite boy in blue.

Roger Henry, another Woodward Avenue resident, says Hicks was the first person he met on the block when he first moved to Geneva six years ago.

Over the years Henry has often opened his home to Hicks, providing him shelter from loose neighborhood dogs Hicks encounters on his route.

"(Hicks) is just the friendliest hardest working federal employee I've ever met. The whole neighborhood loves Steve so we thought we'd honor him with a potluck party," Henry said.