A man who holds a Springfield bowling record is on track for a milestone in his professional career.
O.J. Crowder set a city high-series bowling record with an 886 in November 2008.
Today, Crowder has served downtown Springfield as a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service for more than 30 years.
Crowder’s 2008 bowling achievement of rolling games of 300, 296 and 290 in the Bob Heselton League at AMF Laketown Lanes was recorded by a local newspaper reporter.
Crowder’s letter-carrier career currently is profiled in The Mosaic Project, a new podcast hosted by Tony Stang, the pastor of Central Baptist Church at 501 S. Fourth St. in downtown Springfield.
The Mosaic Project and Illinois Times are partnering to capture the texture of life in Springfield through meaningful conversations and place-based reflection on The Mosaic Project podcast.
“(Tony Stang’s) letter carrier was dropping mail off at his church, and he had originally asked her. She said she didn’t know much about downtown, but she thought that he should talk to me because I’ve been down here for over 30 years,” Crowder told Illinois Times about how he became a guest on The Mosaic Project.
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Serving his country
Crowder is a 1990 graduate of Glenwood High School in Chatham. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran, having actively served from 1990 to 1992 and inactively from 1993 to 1994.
“I took like a week or two off, and then I went and applied for the U.S. Post Office,” Crowder told Illinois Times about his actions after the military. “I had family that worked at the Post Office, so it just seemed like the thing to do. … My dad worked there as a window clerk. My uncle was a carrier.”
Crowder’s official start date with the U. S. Postal Service was Dec. 23, 1993.
“When I started as a part-timer, I was over just off of Cook Street and Capitol and all that behind the main post office,” Crowder told the Illinois Times. “Then they sent me downtown to help somebody, and lo and behold, I’ve been here ever since.”
Crowder told Tony Stang in the podcast that he loves his job despite some difficulties.
“I love it. I think it’s a tough job. It’s rough. It’ll break you down,” Crowder said.
Crowder’s normal workday is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but if he must help someone or the office is understaffed, he’ll work from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. – Monday through Saturday.
“I get Sunday off, and then we’ve got rotating days off, so every week is a different day,” Crowder told Illinois Times. “It’s still five days a week, but sometimes six.”
The highest steps per day that Crowder has recorded is 32,000 steps.
“It’s between 6 and 9 or 10 miles a day,” Crowder said in the podcast. “A pair of shoes will last me four months…I just wear them ‘til they’re nubs. My feet stick out the bottom on the last month.”
Good headspace
Preparing for a workday as a letter carrier is “all mental,” Crowder told Stang.
“You’ve got to be in the right headspace – (not) having an attitude, just not ready to give it 100 that day. If you can’t give it 100, that’s the wrong headspace,” Crowder said.
Good places for letter carriers to deliver mail are places where there are good attitudes, Crowder said in the podcast.
“You can’t take everything out on the person you see. Basically, just voice your opinion, let us know, and we can lead you in the right direction to try to satisfy your needs,” Crowder said. “Instead of coming at us with anger, just talk to us like we’re humans. We can try to rectify the situation.”
It’s not always a letter carrier’s fault if mail is lost, Crowder said.
“We’re the last resort, so we’re always the one that gets the blame put on us if something gets lost, when 90% of the time it’s not the carrier,” Crowder said.
Crowder is a divorced father of three children: Jordan, 32; Kaitlyn, 29; and Braiden, 23.
A former bowler, Crowder now golfs, plays horseshoes and visits local establishments. He’s considering Stang’s invitation to play pickleball.
Crowder hopes to continue working as a letter carrier for a while.
