Farewell to a first-class fellow

Tomorrow will be a sad day for many Alabama Postal employees: Shelby Postmaster Merrell Ponder will be saying good-bye.

After 30 years with the United States Postal Service, Merrell has decided that it is time for him to retire. Friday, July 1, will be his last day on the job. 

Merrell is well known across Alabama for his kindness, intelligence, and humor, and many of us are going to  be sorry to see him go.

Merrell began his career in 1981 when a cousin, who was at the time a rural carrier in Anniston, said to him, "You ought to try being a sub."

This suggestion appealed to Merrell. He had just finished his military service as an industrial engineer and was hoping to find a new job that had a less-toxic work environment.

In 1987, he became a full-time rural carrier, and soon afterwords, rose to the ranks of Postmaster. Before holding his current post at Shelby, Merrell had been the Postmaster at Saginaw, Sycamore, and Columbiana.

"It has been interesting seeing all of the changes," Merrell said. "And sad to see the situation that the Postal Service is in now."

He looks forward to having the time and freedom to explore his other interests. "I want to travel, catch up on  some things, and enjoy the change of pace," he said.



(A) Area 3 Manager of Post Office Operations Reginald Capers (l) with Shelby Postmaster Merrell Ponder

To show the Alabama District's appreciation for Merrell's 30 years of devoted service, earlier this week, Acting Area 3 Manager of Post Office Operations Reginald Capers presented him with certificates of recognition from both himself and from District Manager William Mitchell, along with an engraved clock.

Shelby is a tiny office, and unfortunately, the few other employees who work there were on their routes when the brief presentation took place.


So to make up for that, everyone now join Postmarks in congratulating Merrell Ponder on achieving 30 years of service, bidding him a fond farewell, and wishing him nothing but the best in the years to come!

BOLO: Scammers and thieves

Criminals are constantly coming up with new ways to scam and steal. We have to continue to work together to keep ourselves alert and informed.


Here are some of the latest concerns that Postal Inspector Tony Robinson wants us to be aware of:


I. Be on the lookout for customers who are attempting to purchase unusually large amounts of stamps.


In this swindle, which has been making the rounds across Alabama as the criminals move from state to state, the scammers buy LOTS of stamps using fake cashier's checks, business checks, or money orders. By the time their fraud become obvious, they are long gone, free to pawn off the stamps wherever they can.


So far, this has been attempted at the Prattville and Tuskeegee Post Offices.


At Tuskeegee, the Postmaster told the (seeming) customer, "We don't keep that many stamps here."


In Prattville, however, the scheme was foiled because the Postmaster alerted postal inspectors when the request for so many stamps seemed fishy. Because of his quick thinking, one of the perpetrators was apprehended.


In North Carolina, the scam was much more elaborately constructed. A lot of time was devoted before the crime to establish phony personnas and involve innocent middlemen. To make the story easier to follow, we'll put the innocent in green and the scammers in red. The plot went something like this:


A supposed businessman came into the post office and said, "“My company has a rush mass mailing going out, and to finish it up, we need about $10,000 worth of priority stamps." The Postmaster didn't have that many available but agreed to order more.


When the stamps came in, the Postmaster called the businessman, who said, "I’m getting ready to go out of town, but I’ll send over my associate with a check and a letter of appreciation for your boss.”


At this point, the businessman contacted a legitimate courier service, gave them his address (it wasn't his address, of course, but was instead the address of another legitimate business), and requested that the courier pick up the check, deliver it to the Post Office, and return with the stamps.


When the courier arrived at the business address he had been given, meeting him in front of the building was the "secretary" (aka scammer's girlfriend). "I'm on my way to lunch right now, but here's the check for the Postal Service and the letter of appreciation that was promised."


The courier delivered the check and letter to the Postmaster, who had been expecting it to arrive. The courier signed for the package of stamps and delivered them back to the secretary, who once again happened to be out in front of the building ("Just getting back from lunch," she had said).


Can you guess what happened next?


Here are some tips about avoiding being duped in this way:


1) If a customer requests an unsually large amount of stamps, suggest to him or her that there are other, more cost-effective ways of paying postage for a mass mailing. If their business is indeed a legitimate one, they will want to save as much money as they can.


2) Postmasters and managers, if you have a doubt about the legitimacy of a company, have your carriers go and check them out by stopping by the address you were given.


II. Letter carriers: avoid leaving mail visible in your vehicles.


This especially applies to rural carriers,  who don't have cages in the back. More frequently, criminals are breaking into postal vehicles any way that they can to steal mail.


To help secure the mail, please keep a towel or blanket handy with which to cover your mail. Yes, they will still know that there is something under the drapery, but they won't know what exactly it is. A stack of credit card mail or birthday cards that they can see through the window is certainly more tempting than causing damage to a federal vehicle for the risk of the unknown.

Birmingham Job Fair

On June 13, the Birmingham Main Post Office welcomed a steady stream of interested customers and potential applicants to a job fair, which was conducted in the lobby.

Many of the job fair participants were not themselves in the midst of a job search but were instead gathering information for unemployed friends or family members.

Alabama District Diversity and Inclusiveness Team Member Kathy Martin-Armstead answered questions and handed out vacancy announcements for several hours. Above, she is assisting retired clerk and current APWU official Sara Witherspoon.

The job fair provided the perfect opportunity for applicants who weren't already familiar with postal lingo to seek clarification about the duties of various listings and the requirements for available positions. 

Martin-Armstead did a fantastic job of fielding questions, as she is doing above with potential applicant Cynthia Pittman.

Michelle Isbell, Kathy Martin-Armstead

For USPS staff and members of the public alike, it was quite a challenge to sort through the long list of open positions.



Kathy Martin-Armstead and Adrienne Brown assist participant Karen Fowler.

The best of luck to all attendees and job seekers. So far, there have been over 3,000 applicants for the USPS Alabama positions.

If you were not able to attend any of the job fairs that were held at post offices statewide but are still interested in employment with the Postal Service, don't despair. As of today, there are still jobs open in Alabama posted on www.usps.com/employment.

If you can see the announcements, the positions are still open. Check back regularly.

Hartselle is at it again

That Hartselle Post Office staff: they'll do anything (anything GOOD, we should say) to get attention. What's this, the third, fourth, or tenth time we've had them on the blog?

First there was the breast cancer awareness event that they had last year where they painted everyone's hair pink. Then, it was the traveling trophy that they won last October for Breast Cancer Awareness Stamp sales. What was next? Their first entry into the 100% RCE Club.

In this case, more is always better.

Congratulations all around to the Hartselle retail staff for once again scoring 100% on the Retail Customer Experience Survey and for achieving a renewed membership in the 100% RCE Club.

Pictured above are Hartselle OIC Tania Cason, SSA Janna Martin, SSA Rick Lamar, SSA Sandra Latta, and Supervisor Heather Fairbanks.

Of her staff, Heather Fairbanks says, "This team worked very hard to maintain the mystery shop score. I am very proud to say that I work with this group! We have a wonderful team!"

Indeed they do.

It's hard to tell if the hands below them are clapping or begging for customer service pointers. Either interpretation works.

Great job, Hartselle! We can't wait until the next time we get to see you (and there will definitely be a next time).

Boaz Job Fair

100% Club membership on the rise

This week's newest members of the 100% Retail Customer Experience (RCE) Club are the window clerks at the Bayside Post Office down in Mobile.



 Pictured above are Bayside SSA’s Sharon McIntosh, Jerry Ross, Tom Fitzpatrick, Willene Washington, along with Manager Wannetta Goodman. This top-notch crew is a repeat achiever of RCE perfection.

"They're all stellar performers," said Customer Service Supervisor Jim Habeck. "They look out for the best interests of the Postal Service and generate revenue whenever they can."

Great job, Bayside! Postmarks appreciates and commends you for your focus on providing the best possible service to our customers.

USPS Job Fairs in Alabama

3 in a row in Roanoke

For the third time in row, window clerks at the Roanoke Post Office have scored a 100% in the Retail Customer Experience (RCE) survey. For those of you who work in other jobs, this means that Roanoke clerks have been flawless when it comes to these 4 elements of customer service that are rated by non-postal observers: hazmat, wait time in line, promotion and merchandising, and image.



Postmaster Rick Cadle, SSA Carolyn Goode, SSA Deletha Witteveen

"The Sales and Service Associates at Roanoke Post Office have proven themselves to be the best at what they do. They take pride in customer service, revenue generation and professionalism and set the example for others to follow," said Roanoke Postmaster Rick Cadle about his conscientious staff.

Postmarks salutes the Roanoke clerks' performance and challenges every office to follow their perfect example!

Priority boxes travel the globe at Westbrook Christian School

Every year, Westbrook Christian School in Rainbow City, Alabama, participates in what they call a God’s World Day. Last February, Postmarks was invited to travel with the youngsters and to document their educational journey.

On this day, students are transformed into special agents who must wander the globe searching for clues that will save their beloved mascot, the Westbrook Warrior.

Classrooms become countries (this year, the countries were the United States, Venezuela, Nigeria, England, Germany, Russia, and North Korea). Students rotate from country to country to gather information and decode clues to help the Westbrook Warrior complete his mission.

And what is a necessity for every clue-collecting covert operative? Why, a suitcase, of course!

This is where the Postal Service was glad to help.

Postmaster Robert Beard arranged for approximately 200 priority flat-rate boxes to be delivered to the students for use in their extensive travels.

At each stop, the students learned about that country’s history and culture, received information and relevant edible goodies, decoded clues in the debriefing room, and had their passports and increasingly heavy “suitcases” stamped.

 Germany

"Hello, welcome to Russia," where Russian tea and tea cakes energized the young spies.

 The entrance to England. "Have your passports open, please."

 England again, where the royal instructor did a bloody good job of making learning fun.

Nigeria, a land of beauty and much intrigue.

 North Korea, where the travelers successfully battled ignorance of world affairs.

 In Venezuela, enjoying a refreshing, exotic waterfall bursting with knowledge.

 Back in the good old USA

Most students will hang on to their boxes to reuse and upon which to collect more countries' stamps in the years to come.

Hopefully, these keepsakes will remind the students and their families that priority boxes can go wherever and carry whatever our customers need them to go.

Postmarks offers a warm thanks to Westbrook students and staff and Postmaster Robert Beard. Sorry that you had to wait so long to see the article, but we had to wait for all of the permission slips to be completed and returned, which was a monumentous task in itself that we greatly appreciate you all having done.

We hope to be invited back for next year's day, where the theme will be The Great American Melting Pot.

Letter carriers’ annual food drive once again a success for the hungry

Picture courtesy of Birmingham local NALC President Antonia Shields

 This just in from the National Association of Letter Carriers:

June 4 -- In another successful nationwide food drive, the National Association of Letter Carriers collected 70.2 million pounds of food on May 14, at a time when hunger is a growing problem.

The NALC’s annual one-day drive, largest in the nation, is held on the second Saturday in May in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam. This was the 19th annual NALC Food Drive to stamp out hunger.

“Six days a week, letter carriers see first-hand the needs in the communities they work in, and we’re privileged to be able to help the needy and to lead an effort that brings out the best in so many Americans,” NALC President Fredric Rolando said. Non-perishable donations residents left near their mail boxes were collected by the nation’s 230,000 letter carriers as they delivered mail.

This was the eighth consecutive drive surpassing 70 million pounds. Last year’s record collection of 77.1 million pounds pushed the total past the one-billion-pound mark, and the total since the drive began in 1993 now stands at 1,130,000,000 pounds. The slight downturn this year is related to the tough economy – which makes the drive all the more important.

CONTINUE>>>

HAZWOPPERs

HAZWOPPERS are a select group of postal inspectors who receive special training and are certified as Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Responsers. They are the federal agents who can tread through areas that are potentially contaminated by leaking or suspicious parcels and letters in order to collect evidence.

Agents from Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee received this year's training and certification at the Birmingham P&DC (HAZWOPPERs must be recertified annually).  

While most cities already have trained emergency hazmat responders, their focus is usually on containing the substance and treating victims. "They are not trained investigators, usually aren't used to testifying in criminal cases, and don't understand the intricacies of mail processing," said Postal Inspector Tony Robinson.

The HAZWOPPER suit includes a full face mask that is attached to an air pump.  They are also armed with portable chemistry sets and other equipment.

Before they suited up, classroom training covered protocols and equipment usage, which included the use of x-ray devices. Postal Inspectors Stephan Matthews and Tony Robinson, who are both domiciled in Birmingham, were two of the participants.

Postmarks appreciates all of the HAZWOPPERS for their willingness to put themselves on the line in order to stop criminals ( and also for being willing to wear those stifling suits) and thanks Postal Inspector Robinson for sharing the information about them.

Serving through the storm

On April 27, the day that mile-wide tornado swept across Alabama, Crane Hill Postmaster Sarah Harris was in between storms and was about to seek cover for the second time that day when 69-year-old Highway Contract Driver Billy Keller arrived at his normal time. 

When she saw him, she knew right away that nothing was normal that afternoon and that worrying about the approaching  storm would have to wait. 

Usually, he laughed and joked, but on this day, he sat on a stool and winced in pain. “Billy, are you okay?” she asked. 

He told her that his chest hurt and that his left arm was heavy and numb. “It feels as if it weighs 500 pounds,” he said. 

Sarah immediately recognized the symptoms--she is the only Postmaster in Alabama who is also a registered nurse--and insisted that they call for help. “Billy, I’m going to run next door and get the fire department.” She ran out the door, up a hill, and motioned to the firehouse staff to come right away. 

When the EMT arrived and said that they needed to call for an ambulance, Billy protested. He had been having the pain throughout the day, but it always seemed better after he rested for a while. “I’ve got to get the mail to Cullman,” he insisted. 

Both Sarah and Billy had grown up on local farms, and on hot days, one of them would often say to the other, “This is cotton pickin’ weather.” On this day, Sarah recognized the severity of the situation, even if Billy didn’t. She had to convince him to wait for the ambulance. “You and I are both going to pick cotton again,” she told him. “Stay where you are.”

And wait they did. Because of debris in the road and downed power lines from the storm, the ambulance didn't arrive until 90 minutes later. 

When it finally got there, Billy’s protests began again, and Sarah had heard enough. “I’m not good at strong-arming people,” she said. “But I said to him, ‘Bill, you lay down right now and go with these people’”

Her actions saved his life. One artery in his heart had a 99% blockage. “They usually call that a widow maker,” Sarah told us later. 

Because of her persistence, Billy is now recovered and is back at work. When we visited Crane Hill and wanted to snap a picture of the two of them together, we asked them to step outside, where the light was better. 

Look at the background. We were going to move them elsewhere, but Billy wanted us to take the picture where they stood. Laughing, he said, “You can tell everyone that’s where Sarah kept me from ending up.” 

Sarah is happy that Billy is still trucking on down the road, but says that her proudest moment as a Postmaster came later that week, when everyone in her office worked together to serve the Crane Hill community.

They were without electricity and running water for five days, and there were gas shortages in the area. She served customers through the door, using printed charts and an old manual scale. Everyone cased mail by candlelight. Carriers waited in line for hours to have enough gas to complete their routes. 

“We got the mail delivered every day,” she said. “Through downed power lines and trees, no electricity, gas shortages, we never missed a delivery.”

“To the community, the mail means getting back to normal,” she said. “I’m so proud of my people. 

After 30 years of Postal service, Sarah is retiring in May. Her mother had also worked for the Postal Service until she was 81 years old. What will remain in her absence is a legacy of service that will indeed be missed in Crane Hill, Alabama.