The Easter Bunny wasn't be the only one making special deliveries on Easter Sunday this year.
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Former Dragons player Merv Boatswain was also doing his final newspaper deliveries around Mount Kembla.
Mr Boatswain and his wife Di have put the final wrap on 35 years keeping locals up to date with all the latest news. And Phil Murphy, of Cordeaux Heights, said the couple will be sorely missed after “reliably delivering the news through fair weather and foul”.
For Mr Boatswain the decision to call it quits on such a long commitment to the friendly area with such a great sense of community means no more getting up at 2.30am seven days a week. It also means they can finally make some travel plans and visit family in other parts of the country.
Among the first things they did was take themselves to Sydney for a few days after the final delivery to do something they have always wanted to do.
They attended the ANZAC Day dawn service and then spent some time leisurely taking in all the beautiful harbourside city has to offer as a little treat to themselves.
That came after dozens of well wishes and messages of thanks from a grateful Mount Kembla community including bunches of flowers that were proudly displayed in the part of their home that previously operated as a shop for many years.
“The dawn service is one of the things we have always wanted to do but because of the commitments with the papers we have never been able to do it,” Mr Boatswain said.
The rugby league player who got his start playing for the Saint George Dragon juniors in Sydney came to Wollongong in 1983 to coach Port Kembla and fell in love with the city so much he decided to stay.
Then he met Di MacLauchlan while he was still playing said “that was an even better reason to stay”.
“I was playing at Thirroul and got concussion and she asked if I could stay at her parents place and in their wisdom they said “yes”. Her father was Tommy MacLauchlan. He had cabs in Port Kembla.”
Mr Boatswain graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Wollongong and the couple ended up leasing and then later owning the historic Mount Kembla Village Store which is also where the Rutty’s bus business started many years ago.
Before taking on newspaper deliveries Mr Boatswain was a cost accountant with Wollongong City Council and his wife was a primary school teacher.
The couple ran the shop which also acted as a newsagent for many years. They love the sense of community in the area and kept delivering papers for a couple of years after the store closed.
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
