When publisher Shaun Jessome says the Western Wheel wouldn’t get to doorsteps without the Fehrs, he’s not exaggerating.
The Okotoks family has its fingerprints all over the distribution of the weekly newspaper — and Foothills Magazine too — as three generations take on various roles in getting more than 17,000 copies to homes and businesses throughout the region.
This family affair at the Wheel dates back about a decade when Crystal Fehr was hired to deliver bundles of newspapers to carriers. Within about a year-and-a-half, she became distribution manager and, not long after that, the influx of Fehrs began.
Today, Crystal is joined by her sister, Melissa Eggertson, their parents, Dan and Janette Fehr, as well as her kids, nieces and nephews, and cousins, ensuring pretty much every copy of the Wheel has a Fehr attached to it in some way.
“Shaun jokes quite often, as did Matt and Paul (Rockley, former publishers), that if anything happened in our family, they wouldn’t know what to do, but we do have back-ups,” Crystal says of a contingency plan should the whole clan be called away at the same time.
Dan says this has been put into practice as parents on both sides have passed away in the last three years without leaving the distribution department high and dry.
“We just said, 'No funerals on Wednesdays,’” Janette jokes.
Crystal recently gave up the distribution manager position, turning it over to Melissa at the beginning of October, but continues as a delivery driver. She says the transition has been made easier because of familial connections.
“I think for the most part it’s easier to work with family because she can just call me even though I’ve quit from that position,” she says. “She always knows she can contact me.
“If it wasn’t family and I had moved on, they would just have to fend for themselves and figure it out like I did.”
Melissa, who originally joined the team as a driver and continues in that role, says being able to call her sister when she has questions, particularly for those issues that don’t come up very often, is definitely convenient.
The ability to reach out to family whenever the need arises means boundaries can sometimes get pushed well beyond the norm.
“When we’re out delivering at 1 o'clock or 2 o'clock in the morning, we might phone Crystal and say, ‘This doesn’t make sense,’” says Janette, who has been delivering bundles to carriers in Diamond Valley as well as to townhouse and condo developments in Okotoks with husband Dan for almost seven years. “We wouldn’t do that to a regular boss.”
Work talk also has a way of permeating the conversation whenever the family gets together, whether that’s for holiday meals or on the last Sunday of every month when Dan and Janette host an open house.
“At Thanksgiving dinner, my sister-in-law said she doesn’t know how much longer the kids are going to keep delivering so you might need to find new carriers (for their routes),” says Crystal. “This is our Thanksgiving talk.”
Janette says they’ve become accustomed to shop talk working its way into conversations between family members, but they’ve all learned over time that if it’s important, it should be put in writing.
“When that happens, I tell them to send me an email or a text because I'm not in work mode so I might forget it,” says Crystal.
So, what’s it like to have your daughter as your boss?
“We love it,” says Janette, “she’s very respectful to us.”
“And if we have a problem, we can tell her off,” adds Dan, who also handles the post office run, which takes him to Blackie, High River, Millarville, Longview, Bragg Creek and Priddis on a weekly basis.
Crystal says both of her parents were bothered when she gave her notice, but she allayed any concerns by telling them their other daughter was taking over.
“We can just yell at a different one now,” jokes Dan.
Crystal says her younger sister has always wanted to boss her around, and in her new role has that authority, but Melissa is quick to add that despite the title, she doesn’t think she’ll be able to pull it off.
They all acknowledge that working with family has both benefits and drawbacks, but at the end of the day, there’s a level of support, and the ability to needle each other, that doesn’t exist among a typical group of co-workers.
“We were raised that as a family you work together, you cooperate, and if you have difficulties, and everyone does, you set it aside and do what we have to do,” says Dan, who is retired from a career in construction.
"We might depend on each other more because I know if I can’t do it, they will.”
Case in point is Crystal’s daughter Julie, a University of Calgary student who has been delivering bundles to carriers for the past five years, who covered her grandfather’s post office route when he was away.
“She did amazing,” says Janette.
“I almost thought I wasn't going to get it back,” adds Dan.
“Some say I did it better,” Julie says with a grin.
“And they might be right,” adds Crystal with an even bigger smile.
“She didn’t do it better, it was just a prettier face,” Dan jokes to conclude the good-natured exchange.
Given delivering the Wheel has become a family affair for the Fehrs, both Crystal and Melissa’s children have grown up around it, pitching in at the warehouse to earn Slurpee money and pounding the pavement to get newspapers to doorsteps.
Crystal says her youngest son, who is 15 now but started delivering papers at the tender age of five, and Melissa's 14-year-old daughter could run the Fisher Crescent warehouse with their eyes closed as they’ve picked up so much knowledge through osmosis.
Crystal’s oldest son, who works in construction, has been conscripted to do maintenance at the warehouse.
Melissa oversees a diverse group of more than 100 carriers, which is primarily made up of kids, but also includes adults, seniors, recent immigrants and FAIM clients.
It can be a challenge to keep carriers on all routes as summer, back to school, winter weather and more can prompt vacancies, but there are many instances where a route stays in the same family for years, passed down from sibling to sibling.
In addition to ensuring all the papers get where they need to be, the distribution manager also has the unenviable task of responding to delivery complaints, which are bound to happen when the last line in the chain falls to a 10-year-old.
“People can get very upset if that paper isn’t put in the right spot or it isn’t there by 5 p.m.,” says Crystal, admitting that complaints can be overwhelming at times, but sees a silver lining in the fact that readers are passionate about getting their copy of the Wheel.
“It’s interesting how people get, but it means they like our paper, which is a good thing.”
The Fehrs plan to continue meeting at the warehouse every Tuesday night to welcome the truck filled with newspapers from the printing press in St. Albert. They’ll unload it and then fill their own vehicles before disappearing into the night to deliver to destinations burned into the brain.
How much longer can Jessome count on his distribution dynasty plying its trade?
“I’m having too much fun, so I’m going to keep doing it, unless I croak,” Dan jokes.
“Then I'll take his job,” Crystal is quick to respond.
One thing we know for sure: there’s always another Fehr ready to jump into the fray.
