Wisconsin teens take flying leap to deliver mail

[July 28, 2010]  LAKE GENEVA, Wis. (AP) -- The main worry for some young mail carriers in southern Wisconsin is neither dogs nor extreme weather. It's plunging into a lake.

A never-stopping boat delivers mail to dozens of mansions on Lake Geneva during the summer. Teenage carriers are hired to jump off the boat, put the mail in mailboxes on the dock, then scurry back on board. An ill-timed jumper could fall in.

The U.S. Postal Service says it's the only delivery like it in the nation and has been running since 1916. The boat carries about 150 people who watch the mail delivery, sometimes cheering for carriers when they safely return to the boat.

Though the post office lost $3.8 billion last year, officials say the Lake Geneva route is expected to stay a while. The contract for it is just $1 a year.

[Associated Press; By CARRIE ANTLFINGER]

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