WOODY GOODY: We’re sure many of you know our friends, Pat and Woody Woodruff. The couple stopped in the office to visit, and shared with us the September copy of Reminisce magazine, which has a story about Bradford native Harrison Fairbanks.

It’s written by his granddaughter, Yvonne Brown.

She explains her grandfather was “born in 1897, placed in an orphanage at age 6 and indentured to a single woman to work her farm. He ran away when he was 16 to reunite with his siblings in their hometown of Bradford, Pennsylvania.”

He worked in Olean, N.Y., at a haberdashery, where he saw, met and fell in love with Nellie Rose. The two married in 1917. In 1923, Harry found work as a letter carrier in Portville, N.Y.

His granddaughter recounts family stories of sorting mail on the dining room table, her grandfather delivering mail on his horse, “Old Toots,” and even a story of a cat in a mailbox.

“When Grandpa opened the flap, the cat jumped out of the mailbox, into the mail truck and out the other side. It was a good thing he had his door open.”

During the war, Harry would deliver letters from the front as soon as they arrived — even if it was a Sunday.

“After 34 years on the job, Harry wanted the postmaster job in Portville,” Yvonne wrote. So he and Nellie drove to Washington, D.C., met with his representative and asked for the job.

He got it in 1958.

“Eventually he became the president of the Cattaraugus County Postmasters Association,” Yvonne wrote. “He was strict, but he was also one of the most honest men I knew.”

GAS PAINS: Another friend, Fred Harris, called us when he got back from his Hawaiian vacation. As you might know, prices in Hawaii tend to be quite high because of the distance involved with making deliveries to the islands.

Fred was quite surprised when he saw the price of gas — $2.65 a gallon. At the same time, Bradford’s was about $2.82.

“We were on the big island, and gas prices stayed the same from north to south.”

Huh.