Carlton postmaster loves to deliver

Over the past several years, customers walking into the Cloquet or Carlton post offices have been greeted by a familiar face backed up with a helpful, can-do attitude.

The guy who seems to be at the front window of every local post office is Philip Birkhofer, who now runs a one-man operation in Carlton.

Birkhofer started his career in Cloquet seven years ago, then shifted to Carlton before going back to Cloquet for about five years. He was the head clerk there, "kind of running the front window, taking packages, selling stamps" before taking the job in Carlton when it opened up.

Now he's back...