MONROE — On February 11, the residents of Twining Valley held a small surprise party for Yvonne Schutte’s retirement. She had been working for the Post Office for 32 years before deciding to retire.
Schutte has gone above and beyond what’s expected of her in taking care of the people on her route, residents said, and Twining Valley really wanted to show how much they appreciate it.
“I was telling my son about it, and I said, ‘It’d be neat to do something for her,’” said Mickey Beam, the organizer of the surprise. “We came up with this idea of, why don’t we just write a note and ask residents to give a dollar to her. If everyone did that, we have approximately 100 people that live there, and that would be a neat way to give her a send-off.”
One reason they wanted to do something for Yvonne was just because of how thoughtful and kind she is. They wanted to show her how much they appreciate all that she’s done.
“She’s a caring person, and she notices if somebody’s mailbox isn’t being emptied timely, or if it’s pouring down rain or the wind is blowing, she’ll bring mail to the door,” Beam said.
The Twining Valley community did a wonderful job at celebrating all she’s done for them.
“Two families donated quite a large amount, with the directive of cookies, punch, and whatever; to use the money for that,” Beam explained. “The community out there is better than awesome. Even though everybody didn’t participate by coming to the party, they still gave a little money or a card.”
The party turned out to be a true success, and a wonderful way to celebrate all that Yvonne had done, especially for that community.
“Weather-wise, it was terrific, and she had over 100 cards. She was so surprised. Her mom lives there, and she kept the secret,” Beam said. “We did a lot of visiting. Yvonne, working with the Post Office for 32 years, knew a lot of the people from different parts of her route. She went to their homes before they moved into Twining Valley, so there were deep roots and connections.”
Not only is she a hard worker and cares about the people on her mail route, but she also does what she can to make the world a better place for all.
“We didn’t make her give a speech, but we did find out that Yvonne and her husband recently purchased a building in Freeport, and the humane society there is going to rent the building from her. So that’s just another facet of her personality,” she said.
