Some time around the first of every month, an extraordinary modern-day Pony Express rider named Magsathon drives to a printer in Centralia and picks up 30 bundles of the hot-off-the-presses new Works. It’s kind of an exciting moment. Maggie drops some papers off in Centralia and brings the rest to Olympia. Most of the papers are stashed in Sandia’s locked garage but some stay with Maggie to distribute. Others go directly to Evergreen where the staff of the Center for Community Based Learning and Action puts out 200 copies during the month.
What happens next is weirdly magical. A very small but super steady team of long-time WIPsters picks up bundles from Sandia’s garage throughout the month. They distribute and replenish over 40 locations in Thurston and Mason Counties. There are a dozen newspaper boxes and the rest are in businesses and other establishments. Dave Groves, Scott Yoos, Mike Pelly, and Kevin P. are the backbone of the distribution system, making sure papers are there, troubleshooting problems, filling in for one another. There are others who help out on a less regular basis—Esther Kronenberg, Kelly Miller, Russ, Stephanie, Wendy, and people who remain incognito. One more thing: everyone pitches in, but especially Scott, to take the paper around to events to make sure that folks who haven’t been introduced can become readers.
Some of these WIPsters have been doing the job for a decade or more. All of us who read and write for WIP depend on them. They are our circulatory system. Thank you all.
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