Roger Diedrich has delivered The Brookings Register for nearly 20 years. Today, he's in it. He's the oldest "paper boy" in town. Since he started delivering it in the 1980s, the Register has changed its looks somewhat, but news is still news, and the average reader thinks what's inside is still about the same. Hauling hefty bundles six days a week, Diedrich can attest that it weighs the same. Diedrich, who celebrated his 80th birthday late last month, could be the oldest route driver the Register has ever had (there is a rumor that a 90-year-old once drove a route), but he's certainly the eldest on staff now, said Steven Kleinsasser, Register marketing and circulation director. "He's a hard worker and very sociable," Kleinsasser added. What's more important, "he keeps an eye out for our customers."

Register route drivers range in age from 19 to in Roger's case 80, and on the walking routes, paper boys can be anywhere from 10 to 70. (And "paper boy" is a misnomer girls have been delivering daily routes for years, and many moms have opted to carry routes as well.) Unlike many of the other Register drivers and staffers, though, Diedrich never carried a paper route as a kid.

Some of the route drivers have other jobs, some are retired and use routes to supplement their income, some are farmers and some just do it to keep busy, Kleinsasser said. Diedrich started out helping a friend.

He guesses that was almost two decades ago, but he's not quite sure.

"It's got to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 years, give or take," he said. (Diedrich has the kind of tenure at the Register matched by only two other employees : Publisher Billy McMacken and News Editor Doug Kott.)

Diedrich's friend doesn't deliver newspapers any more but Diedrich still loads up his green pickup with one rack route and three residential routes in Brookings as well as a rack route and a residential route in his home city of Volga.

Diedrich started delivering rural routes, but now he stays in town. It's a little safer when the weather turns foul, he thinks. Still, he's broken through more than a few snowbanks in the past couple of decades. Even driving paved streets can be hazardous in snow and ice time.

If it's not always a young man's job, being a route driver requires a young man's stamina . With the large number of newspapers to roll and deliver, it usually takes Roger from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. five hours to deliver the weekday afternoon editions.

To get you the Saturday morning newspaper Diedrich starts at midnight Friday and goes until 7 a.m. the next morning.

"It kind of wipes you out," Diedrich admits

It takes time to get the papers to roughly 250 home-delivery customers in addition to another 250 newspapers sent to businesses and vending machines. Bundles of newspapers can weigh about 25 pounds, depending on the number of news pages and inserts.

The octogenarian says he's trying to cut back on the number of routes he delivers, but he's become just about irreplaceable at the Register.

"I'm trying to cut back," he says, "but I'm too kindhearted. I hate to say no."

"He's a great part of our delivery team," Kleinsasser said. "When the day comes, we'll be sorry to see him go, but we will wish him the best in everything he does."

You see, Diedrich is one to keep at his job for a few years. Before delivering newspapers for the first time at nearly 60, he drove a milk truck for Land O'Lakes for many, many years.

When he retired, he just kept on driving.

When he's not working, Diedrich grows a fair-sized vegetable garden, occasionally bringing in the abundance of produce to share with his coworkers. He also cherishes time with his wife, Jan, grown children and an extended clan of relatives.

And at 80 years old, he's seen a thing or two in his lifetime.

"He's always good for a story," said Kleinsasser. Kind of similar to the newspaper he's been delivering for nearly 20 years.

Contact Ashley Allgaier at aallgaier@brookingsregister .com.