Ocracokers came out Wednesday night to help Grant MacDonald celebrate his retirement from UPS. He has been Ocracoke's UPS connection for the past 29 years.
Leslie Lanier owns Books to Be Red, and like all business owners on Ocracoke, she depends on UPS to get merchandise and supplies to her shop. She had the great idea for a party in the yard at Books to Be Red, and invited the island community. It was a potluck, BYOB, and bring-your-own-chair event, the kind that shows how much Ocracokers enjoy coming out to eat, drink, laugh, and reminisce with each other.
A not-so-standard Ocracoke party addition was a kissing booth, so the ladies could show Grant how they've felt about him all these years.
Grant sported a brand-new, barely-there mustache for the party. He's been growing it for about a week, but officially only since Saturday – because mustaches are against regulation for UPS drivers.
As soon as Grant started working for UPS in 1984, he took the Ocracoke route and stayed with it until last Friday. "It's all I know!" Grant likes to say. Maybe so, but he knows it really, really well.
Making UPS deliveries in the days before Ocracoke had street signs, house numbers, or even street names, could be a challenge.
"There was no numbers and no road signs, and I'd get directions like 'look for a little dog in the yard,'" he said.
"The weirdest thing was when I was staying in the Wahab house, where John Manning lives now, and I got a package to deliver to 'the trailer behind the white big house beside real long the white picket fence' and I couldn't find it. Come to find out, it was my house, in the trailer right behind me!" Grant always enjoys a good laugh at himself.
"You know who helped me the most?" he asked rhetorically. "Kay Brelig and Agnes Garrish at the bank. They took me in – whenever I had a question, I could go to the bank, and they could paint me a map. They knew how to get to everyone!"
For the first few years, UPS sent Grant to Ocracoke to live. He would pick up the few packages people wanted to send each morning, drive them up to Manteo, and return with deliveries. Originally from Edenton, Grant said his thought in 1984 was, "This is fun! Let's move to Ocracoke! I thought it was fun here, even in February, then it got more fun in March, and more fun in April, and more fun in May, and so on."
Woody Billings was Grant's first neighbor on Ocracoke and they share many a laugh about parties in their past.
"I made daiquiris in those days," Woody said. "Grant would get up and dance on the porch rail."
"He's the godfather of my daughter, Melissa," Grant said. The two got a bit serious recalling when Grant had a medical emergency, and thought he was dying. As he waited for "Pedro" to fly him to a hospital, he told Woody, "Take care of my family." They're still friends after all these years, and Woody says he's met all of Grant's extended family and went to his second wedding in 1993.
Although Grant's lived in Manteo for over twenty years now, he considers Ocracoke his home.
"I've been here longer than in my hometown," he said. "I'm a transplant! One thing I know about this island is we're not scared – doors are open, people are friendly, we take care of each other."
Grant plans to enjoy retirement in Wildwood, Florida, where he will do a lot of golfing, and spend time with his kids and five grandkids. Some Ocracokers are already planning to visit him there.
Check out the "We love our UPS guy!" Facebook fan page to read testimonials about Grant's unflagging good cheer and dedication to Ocracoke. We're all going to miss his smiling face!
