Every day we all say, "oh I need to run and get the mail." When I think back to when I was very young and my parents would either ride a saddle horse, drive or take my Dad's old snowplane 5 miles to Esther to get the mail, once a week.
Steve Sankey delivered mail from Hemaruka, Ab. to Loverna Sk. and all of the post offices in between, from January 1, 1946, until December 31, 1949. In those years he delivered mail with various modes of transportation, one of the most unique was his Massey Harris 102 tractor fitted with ski's on the front and a mailbox on the back. He would often use horses and have places along the way to change horses and stay overnight. I remember my Dad talking about Steve staying at the farm and using one of Dad's teams to go onto Loverna, they remained great friends for many years after that. When he came back he would change out the team and carry on to Esther, New Brigden, Sedalia and back home to Hemaruka. When we look back at these times, it gives us a sense of how difficult it was to do something we take for granted today.