Like a doctor making house calls, Telluride Postal Clerk Jim Looney delivers.

Tuesday the Telluride Town Council applauded his efforts as an exemplary citizen by giving him a medal for going above and beyond the call of duty on Christmas Day.

"They said it was for Christmas Eve, but actually it was for Christmas Day," he said.

The gregarious former dairy farmer from Postville, Ia., was hard at work that day after the holiday blizzards caused a disruption in the already overloaded mail system.

“I made a few phone calls and told people they had packages for Christmas,” he said. “Lots of people came in that day. It was an incredible day. People brought me lattés; Clark’s Market brought me dinner.

“They singled me out for Christmas, but it was the entire staff,” he said. “I just think everybody was appreciative.”

Looney, who has been practically memorizing everyone’s face and name since arriving here to work for the post office eight years ago, said he believed the honor bestowed to him during Tuesday’s Town Council meeting was based on the overall good feeling the community has about its postal service and the employees who work there.

Looney said despite his on-the-job advantage of being at the center of much of the business and social activity that goes on in town, he is not going to run for office, pronouncing himself plenty satisfied with the job he has, running the postal store and over-the-counter encounters at the post office. He has endeared himself to the general population by turning what is often a cold administrative machine into a “friendly, happy place.”

“As people often tell me, they have never seen a position so designed for one person,” Looney said. “I think this honor is for whatever is going on here during the year. It’s for the entire staff. It’s a great group of people.”