For NPR News, I'm Sarah Lehr in Lake Geneva, Wis. But mailboat jumpers say there's no other way they'd rather spend their summers. Jumpers start sorting mail by 7 a.m., and they have to clean the ship's bathrooms. LEHR: Not every part of the job is glamorous. KATIE THEISZ: So we're looking at people skills and athleticism and how comfortable they are with all that put together. She's looking for jumpers with stage presence. During tryouts, the boat jumpers are graded on their narration, and former mail jumper Katie Theisz is one of the judges. LEHR: That's 19-year-old Marissa Torres-Raby, one of the more experienced jumpers, talking about the history of the mansions that were built along the lake by Chicago business titans. MARISSA TORRES-RABY: All the next six properties are especially interesting as they are currently or were at one point, all part of the Wrigley estate. The boat jumpers also give tours to the passengers who ride along during each mail run. LEHR: Trying to stay dry is just part of the job. My mom packed extra clothes just in case, and I think she jinxed me. LEHR: The boat kept chugging along at about 10 miles per hour.ĮMMA BOND: And I tried to pull myself back, but the momentum of the boat - or trying to get to the boat just pulled me in. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Is she in? She went in. Hesitate, and you'll plunge straight into Geneva Lake, like 16-year-old Emma Bond during tryouts. That's how a few past jumpers have cracked the ship's glass windows. Run too fast before you jump back on the boat, and you risk a collision. LEHR: The job is coveted, and it requires firm footing. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Good job. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Grab with both hands. UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Ryan, make sure to land. It's part of a longstanding agreement between the cruise line and the local post office. Close to 80 of them choose to have their letters and newspapers dropped off by mailboat jumpers every summer. Now carriers can drive mail trucks to those houses, but some lakefront homeowners still like to keep the tradition alive. LEHR: Mail's been delivered by boat in the southeast Wisconsin vacation town since the late 1800s, when many newly built estates were hard to reach by road. And, you know, some people chase the runner's high. She hopes to secure a spot for her second summer of jumping.ĮRIN HENSLER: There's a lot of adrenaline. LEHR: Eighteen-year-old Erin Hensler grew up near Lake Geneva, where mailboat jumpers are idolized. RAY AMES: Remember, you're going from a moving boat onto a stationary pier. Jumpers have to leap from deck to pier and back again as they drop off mail and collect outgoing letters. LEHR: During its mail runs, the ship never stops. More than a dozen teens lined up on the deck of a cruise ship on a recent rainy morning trying out for spots as mailboat jumpers on the Lake Geneva cruise line. But for some mail routes in Lake Geneva, one of Wisconsin's trendy resort cities, a life jacket is an absolute necessity. post office mail carriers includes a blue collared shirt and an over-the-shoulder satchel. SARAH LEHR, BYLINE: One of the typical uniforms for U.S. Sarah Lehr of Wisconsin Public Radio reports. Some teenage mail carriers in southern Wisconsin face yet another natural element as they compete to deliver mail to lakefront homes. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night can stop postal carriers from delivering the mail - so the unofficial motto goes.
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