Vonda Lofton isn’t tall at 5 foot 3 and a half inches — “that half matters a lot!” she laughs — but she is a big presence in downtown Maysville. Five, and sometimes six, days every week, she is up early to arrive at the post office at 7:45 and pack up the mail for the approximately 500 stops on her city route.
“Memorization is everything,” she said. “I know so many families. It’s wild!”
Vonda, 54, is one of three city carriers and the first woman of color to deliver mail in Maysville. A Maysville native, born in Hayswood Hospital, she’s the mother of three and grandmother of five. Seven years ago she was living away from Kentucky, seeking stable work. “I prayed to God to get me a job to take care of my babies,” she said. She saw an opening for a mail carrier in her hometown and went for it.
“I had no idea how hard the job would be,” she said. “I’ve cried on my route before.”
Vonda walks 23,000 steps a day. She sorts and loads her van and drives it to spots along her route, then hops out to fill her shoulder bag and hands with envelopes, packages, newspapers and fliers to deliver. “It was my feet that hurt the longest — six months,” she said. “I stretch my legs in the morning. And I bought myself a fancy foot massager. Best $100 I ever spent!”
She stuck it out, got stronger and faster. “It’s like climbing a mountain,” she said. “One step at a time.”
Along her route, Vonda brings smiles as well as mail. “Vonda’s the spirit of Maysville,” said Sean Ellis, a neighbor.
Vonda sports spirited clothing at work when she can — holiday socks and costumes for Halloween. For most of October, breast cancer awareness month, she wears pink ribbon-covered socks.
“She’s got a good heart,” said her coworker, Stacy Wagner, a rural driver.
Evenings and weekends, she spends time with family. She often has dinner with her youngest daughter, Gracie, and her kids check in on her on calls and FaceTime throughout the day. Time at church is also important. “It’s the peace that God’s given me,” she said.
