By Chris Mac Kenzie
The Alpine Sun
     ALPINE — Anyone who has lived in Alpine more than just a few years, expects to see a cheerful, friendly face manning the center window of the post office counter Larry Galm has been in that spot for so many years that we expected that he would always be there.
     No such luck! After 24 years in the postal service, Galm retires on Feb, 25 and someone else will be handling the customers at his window.
     Galm got started in the postal service almost by the "stage door." In 1980, when Mary Gibson was the postmaster, they were both involved with the Alpine Players, a group of devoted amateur actors who periodically performed on the stage at Center School. Galm says he didn't act much, but just did occasional walk-on appearances. "I helped build the sets," he said. "Kind of a handyman job. I was working for the Alpha Beta Market and I guess Mary didn't think that offered much of a future, so she convinced me to take the test for a post office job."
     It turned out that she had a purpose behind it all. In November of 1980, she needed more help in the Alpine office, located in the new building on Arnold Way, so Galm would work the night shift at Alpha Beta, then show up at the post office to help with the early morning jobs for a few hours. As might be expected, when Gibson needed a full time clerk, there was Larry Galm already trained. 
Alpine had four clerks and six delivery routes in those days. The mail came out from San Diego at 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. in a little pickup truck which also went on to Descanso and Pine Valley with the rest of its load. Today, it takes big bobtail vans to deliver the daily load.
     "We used to sort nearly everything by hand," explained Galm. "These days, 70 percent of it is already machine sorted into our 11 routes and we only have to sort the packages and special mail." 
But that doesn't mean he has less work to do. Indeed not. Window clerking is only a small part of his job. He is in charge of the bulk mail, getting it ready to go out. He handles all the insurance claims, usually two or three a month. He is the man to see if you want to rent a box and handled the billing for them.He also trains all the new window distribution clerks.
Asked to name the worst and hardest time during his 24 years, Galm didn't hesitate a second. "The Cedar Fire," he said. "So many people, a lot of them my friends, had lost their homes and all their business records. They had no place for mail to be delivered. We tried to help all we could but..." his voice trailed off.
     Obviously, he has been a busy man, so when the chance came to retire, Galm was anxious to move on to other interests. Right now, he says he has so much to do at home, with a garden and landscaping that's gotten out of hand, plus repair jobs in the house, that he knows he'll be busy for quite awhile. He likes carpentering and both he and his wife have been volunteers at the Olympic Training Center, so he's not worried about getting bored.
     Sandy, his wife of many years, started a new job in November. She is a communication coordinator, working at the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau and enjoying some new challenges there. They do plan to take time off for a cruise this fall, but so far, that's the extent of their travel plans. 
     On Galm's last day in the office, his co-workers are getting together for a potluck dinner in his honor because a proper party and reception must wait until the middle of March when Postmaster Tim Hill gets back into town. As one of his co-workers put it, "Everybody wants to be at the party for Larry!"

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