Blockworkers of the Month: The Sushinsky System
Family Deploys Multiple Vehicles To Get The News Out
Story and photo by Cara DeGette
GPHN Editor
Theo Sushinsky describes his family’s decision to start delivering the Greater Park Hill News as fairly unremarkable.
“Once Dad just said, ‘hey, do you want to deliver the paper?’ And we said, ‘yeah.’ And so we did.”
Every month Theo, 8, and his dad, Steve Sushinsky, and Elliott, 6, and Josephine, who turns 11 on Dec. 7, deliver the newspaper to their neighbors in North Park Hill.
“I get to ride around and leave papers for people to read,” says Elliott. “So I would say, mostly I just do it for fun.”
In separate interviews, the Sushinsky kids described the various experiments they’ve tried, using various “vehicles,” while developing the most efficient delivery system.
“Elliott brought a vehicle once, a little toy car, and we pushed it around with the newspapers inside,” Theo says.
Josephine says the family’s delivery vehicles have also included a toy shopping cart (no good; it kept falling over), a tricycle, scooters and a Big Wheel.
Theo says he finally figured out a great system — one that generations of newspaper carriers before him will confirm is indeed the superior method. Theo’s current vehicle is a bicycle. He attaches bags on each side of the handlebars, with the same number of newspapers on each side. As he delivers the route, Theo switches back and forth, so the dwindling number of newspapers on each side stays balanced. Genius.
Steve, the dad, says that he always had a paper route growing up, delivering the Washington Post with his brothers. When he and his wife moved to the neighborhood 11 years ago, he thought it was pretty cool that Park Hill has its own newspaper, delivered for free every month. When a route opened up, he and his family signed up. Now they deliver to three blocks. It’s not a big time commitment, he says, maybe 45 minutes a month, and it’s a great chance to catch up with his neighbors.
“I guess I’m reliving my childhood,” he says.
Since 1960, the Greater Park Hill News has been delivered for free throughout the neighborhood, with the help of hundreds of blockworkers. Are you interested in becoming a blockworker? The GPHN has an online map that shows which blocks in Park Hill need regular volunteers. Check it out and sign up at
gphndelivery.greaterparkhill.org. Questions? Contact Brenda Morrison at newspaper@greaterparkhill.org.