The morning was the result of a collaborative effort between Jones, Monroeville SSDA Stacey Walton-Leggitte (who had submitted an e-idea about it), the Monroe County Heritage Museum, the Monroeville/Monroe County Chamber of Commerce, and the postal employees who volunteered to sell stamps and make cancellations at the event (Susan Roberts, Annette Cannon, Tonya Hadley, and Phillip Jones), and is a true example of the kinds of great things that we can accomplish when people listen to each others' ideas and work together to make things happen.
Mrs. Burch's second grade class from Monroeville Elementary School gave the Pledge of Allegiance.
Stacey Walton-Leggitte followed them with an a cappella rendition of The National Anthem. Her rich, lovely voice inspired everyone in the vicinity of the courthouse square to stop and listen; afterward, the cheers and applause for her lasted a long time.
Jones presented certificates of appreciation to Walton-Leggitte and to representatives from the Heritage Museum and Chamber of Commerce, and a representative from Congressman Bonner's office briefly addressed the crowd.
Jones(l) and Museum Director Stephanie Rogers unveiled the Gregory Peck stamp in the courtyard. What a nice way to mark Jones' one-year anniversary as the Monroeville postmaster, which happened to have been the day before.
After a moment of silence for all of the victims in Alabama's recent tornadoes, Jones explained pictorial postmarks to the audience and told them what they needed to do in order to get items postmarked on that day. Because there were so many people wanting the Mockingbird Station postmark, the number of postmarks that customers could receive during each trip in the line was restricted to 20.
Jones reinforced to the crowd that the Postal Service accepts no tax dollars and is an entirely self-supportive entity. "We have events like this so that my carriers can put gas in their vehicles and so that we can keep this post office here in Monroeville," she said.
"This all came about because of an employee's idea. You have been an integral part of this success," Jones (r) told Walton-Leggitte.
The line to purchase stamps and receive the postmarks was busy like this for hours. At times, it extended all the way to the front of the courthouse.
Customers purchased the Gregory Peck stamps, affixed them to blank envelopes that they had either brought with them or purchased at the Postal tent, and then returned to the line to have the envelopes postmarked. Tables, chairs, punch, and snacks were provided.
McIntosh Postmaster Annette Cannon (foreground) and Excel Postmaster Lynn Haddox volunteered to help.
Stacey Walton-Leggitte, SSDA Phillip Jones, and Peterman Postmaster Tonya Hadley volunteered, too, and served the customers with the perfect combination of assembly-line efficiency and small-town friendliness.
Jackson Postmaster Susan Roberts also volunteered to help, and her fast fingers on the calculator were something that the event couldn't have done without.
Monroeville Police Officers Victor Rankis and Jean Brewer enjoying their beat.
This is the famous Monroeville courtroom upon which the courtroom in the movie To Kill a Mockingbird was modeled. It is now part of the Monroe County Heritage Museum and is open to the public. Currently, the Mockingbird Players use this room for their annual production of a two-act play based on the novel. Tickets for this year are sold out. You can obtain more information about the play by clicking here.
The Honorable Postmaster Kelly Jones presiding.
This is the Monroeville Post Office mural Harvesting, which was created by Arthur R. Bairnsfather and is dated September 1, 1939. It's a very nice mural that was restored in 1985, but the odd thing about it is that it depicts a scene--harvesting wheat--that has never occurred in Alabama.
On this day, SSDA Stacey Walton-Leggitte did it all. For an event that was initially her idea, she went all out by singing, selling, and stamping. Thanks, Stacey, for such an outstanding effort!
As to the final tallies for the day, Kelly Jones writes, "We exceeded our daily revenue goal Friday by $5956.00. We achieved 113% of our monthly revenue goal. We sold a total of 13,873 Peck stamps generating $6104.12. We sold $421.53 in Redi Post product during the event. Total cancellations were well above 18,000 pieces. The total revenue for the Monroeville Post Office for this one event was $6525.65."
She added, "Memories…Priceless."
