Friday morning, current and former employees of the United States Postal Service celebrated Vance for 50 years of service to the community as a substitute mail carrier.

Vance, 77, has been a fixture in the community for half a century while working alongside a pleasant crew who he says never included anyone with a bad attitude. “We don’t have crabby people here,” Vance said. “It makes it nice to come to work.”

Many years ago, Vance was able to fill a bag with letters and walk from house to house in the community that has welcomed him so fondly. Now, due to the rise in online ordering, mail carriers deliver far more packages than ever before.

“People order everything to be delivered now. You used to only have a few packages, but it’s not like that now,” Vance said.

Bill Vance has served as a substitute mail carrier with the United States Postal Service in Gowanda for 50 years.

Also with the rise of the internet, there are far fewer letters being sent. Vance said especially this time of the year is a dramatic change from many years ago, as many holiday cards have been replaced by packages and seasonal greeting cards have turned into social media posts and emails.

“People don’t do that now,” Vance said of handwritten letters and personal holiday cards. “Now it’s all done over the internet. … It doesn’t seem so personal that way.”

Serving as a substitute mail carrier, rather than taking on a full-time route, Vance has been the one to step in to deliver the mail throughout Gowanda whenever he was needed. Vance has chosen to serve the Gowanda community rather than move elsewhere because he believes the grass isn’t always greener somewhere else.

“People are the same everywhere. Life changes, but people are people,” Vance said.

He also feels that people, for the most part, are much more good than bad. Through many changes in the community he has witnessed over the years, his feeling toward people in general has never changed.

“When life changes, put a smile on your face and go with the flow,” Vance said. “It’s so much easier to smile than it is to frown.”

Friday morning, close to 20 of his closest coworkers over the years gave Vance another reason to smile.