Safety Warriors

Two more Alabama District employees received their Awards of Honor yesterday from the National Safety Council: Warrior Post Office Rural Carriers Stonya Nation and Tonya Ellison. They are now officially members of the elite group of 1/2 of 1 percent of Alabama Postal employees who have earned this award by driving for 10 years or 100,000 miles of Postal employment without having an at-fault accident.

"They're both very nice to work with," said Warrior Postmaster Jerry Earnest. "They do a good job every day."

Stonya (l) and Tonya (r) are pictured above with Warrior Postmaster Jerry Earnest.

When asked about how they had stayed safe for those many miles on the road, both Tonya and Stonya agreed in the importance of staying focused while behind the wheel.

"You need to really concentrate on what you are doing, which is strictly delivering the mail, "said Tonya, who has 26 years of Postal service under her belt.


Stonya Nation loading her vehicle with mail

Stonya, who has been with the Postal Service for 16 years, added that the focus while driving has to be on paying attention to everything around you. "Look closely at your surroundings," she advised.



Stonya, Tonya, and friend and fellow carrier Dana Waites celebrate the carriers' achievement.



As always, we like to ask carriers if they have ever had anything memorable happen to them on their routes. Tonya laughed, and after some encouragement finally told us about one such instance that demonstates her composure in difficult situations as well as her devotion to delivering the mail.

She told the story of the day that she went to deliver a certified letter. When she arrived at the customer's door, she heard a voice asking her to come inside because he was unable to get up. Thinking that an elderly or disabled person needed her help, she opened the door only to find a disrobed man on an air mattress.

"I told him, 'Sir, you’re not getting your certified letter if you don’t cover yourself up.'  He did, and I delivered it,”she said.

Congratulations to Stonya and Tonya for a job well and safely done, and we hope to see you all and more Warrior carriers receiving the same thing next year.



On our way out, we noticed what a wonderful job Window Clerk Sandra Moore was doing waiting on customers, so we wanted to include her picture, too, on Warrior's special day.





Fun ways to increase revenue: Q.T. Pie uses Cardstore.com

Last month, we began this series on using the mail in inexpensive ways to increase revenue. We reviewed our experience with Cardstore.com, concluding that while there were some minor glitches, it was overall a very positive experience.

Generous with her time and energy as always, Montgomery Secretary Ziann Goree read that post and decided that she wanted to add her own two cents. Many of you already know Ziann as The Balloon Lady. She has fashioned lots of ornate balloon sculptures for Postal events and has taught many of us how to get started.

Ziann's alter-ego is Q.T. Pie, a clown who visits nursing homes, children's hospitals, and other charitable events and places where folks need cheering.

About her use of Cardstore.com and Stamps.com, Ziann wrote, "I always use Cardstore and PhotoStamps with my clowning. I have stamps with "Q. T. Pie" on them that I send to friends in nursing homes when I send thank you letters or birthday cards. At Cardstore, I have a few with different pictures of my balloon students and "Q. T. Pie" to brighten people's days. The cards and stamps are very professional. I have recommended them to my family and friends. When my mother passed, I put her picture on a stamp to send with my thank you cards."

She sent us some lovely examples:



Ziann on the front of her card holding one of her magnificent creations

 

Inside Ziann's card





Close-up of the inside

Ziann's philatelic collectible

Thanks, Ziann, for sharing those with us and for being such bastion of support. Just like always, you're making people smile. This blog belongs to all of you, and it takes participation and response from everyone to keep it going.

Postmarks imagines also that in regard to promoting herself, something like this would be much more effective than handing out business cards. Who could ever forget getting a card from Q.T. Pie stamped with Q.T. Pie? She won't let you!

To read another great post on this topic, visit the blog Save the Post Office by clicking here.

Peterman OIC Tonya Hadley: "I was in the right place at the right time."

Peterman OIC Tonya Hadley is reluctant to toot her own horn, so we feel compelled to do it for her. On August 3, her quick thinking in combination with a series of connected events probably saved a customer’s life.

Tonya has been working in Peterman since 2003, where she has enjoyed getting to know her customers and hearing their stories.

For example, recently, a customer named Tommy came in the Post Office to ask if anyone had seen his missing dog, Auby. He was worried because Auby is diabetic and needs daily insulin shots. A few days later, he returned to the Post Office to let everyone know that Auby was home safe and sound, thanks to having been found by a customer named Marsha, who, as luck would have it, is also a diabetic.

Tonya often works late into the afternoon to finish up her daily reports, and if customers have packages waiting, Tonya watches for them and gives them their mail, even though the window unit has already been closed for the day.

On this day, the customer named Marsha came in late to pick up her package. 20 minutes later, Tonya was ready to call it a day herself. On her way out the door, she grabbed her keys and the three pieces of candy that she had purchased at lunch for her children.

“As a matter a fact, I had stopped at a gas station on my lunch break, and the three candies was the only purchase I made Anyone who knows me knows that I am a bit of a health/exercise fanatic, so I rarely buy my children candy and never keep sweets at the office,” Tonya said.

Once outside, she noticed a parked by the blue box that was wedged between the curb and a light pole. As she got closer, she noticed that Marsha was inside the running vehicle and that the bumper was stuck on top of the curb.

Tonya opened the driver’s side door and asked Marsha if she was okay, but all she received in return was a blank stare. “I have a grandfather who also has diabetes and have seen this blank look before,” said Tonya.

Immediately, she called for an ambulance before saying, “"Marsha, I think your blood sugar is low. I need for you to try and eat this candy, “which was the same candy that she had randomly bought for her children earlier that day.

Marsha ate all three pieces, and when the ambulance arrived, her blood sugar level was still only 25 (90-120 is considered a normal blood sugar level, and people are not supposed to drive when their levels drop below 70).

About the incident, Tonya said, “I am glad that Mr. Tommy shared the story about Auby, that I bought the candy, and that I was in the right place at the right time.”

Postmarks thanks Dave Dilbeck for letting us know about Tonya, along with Tonya Hadley herself for sharing the story and for being so conscientious and caring about the people in her community.

Safe Driver Awards in Center Point

After the Center Point Safety awards last Friday, newly appointed Alabama District Safety Manager Roy Campbell said in amazement, "I have never seen so many people receive safety awards at one time. "

Indeed, the number of Center Point employees who received commendation for driving safely WAS astounding: 54 Safe Driver pins were handed out, and 45 of them were for driving more than 10 years without an at-fault accident.

"For as many routes as we have - 46 - and for as many of our employees to not have had accidents for as many years as they have accrued is truly amazing,” said Center Point Customer Service Manager Tommy Morrison.

The morning began with City Carrier Morris Wilkinson being presented with the National Safety Council's Driver of the Year for our area. Mr. Wilkinson, who recently reached his 70th year of federal service milestone, has driven 64 years without an at-fault accident in a Postal vehicle.


Roy Campbell presents the Driver of the Year award to Morris Wilkinson

“Whether you like it or not, you serve as an example to others,” Campbell told Wilkinson. All of Wilkinson’s Center Point co-workers applauded.

 He is now in the running for the national Driver of the Year award, and since the awards are given based on years of service combined with years of accident-free driving, we expect that he will receive that one, too.

Here are just some of the pictures from our visit to Center Point. As soon as we can, we will put an album that contains all of the pictures on our Facebook page.


Morrison presents a Safe Driver pin to Rural Carrier Brenda Lowe for 17 years of safe driving. Supervisor Lonnie Williams cheers her on.



Tommy Morrison and City Carrier Brian Echols (22 years of safe driving)



City Carrier Jerry Alford (15 years of safe driving) and Morrison



Morrison and City Carrier Fabrizia Hammond (15 years of safe driving)

 

Morrison with Safety Specialist Rebecca Bryars and City Carrier John Hedgepath (15 years)



Center Point award winners

City Carriers Herman Bryant (14 years of safe driving) and Gena Meadows (5 years without an accident) after the brief ceremony



For John Higginbotham, staying safe is no accident

Last week, Maplesville Rural Carrier John Higginbotham was one of only 52 Alabama employees (which is about half of 1%) to receive the National Safety Council's Award of Honor. This award is given to nominated Postal drivers who have driven at least 15 years or 100,000 miles without being involved in a preventable accident.


Maplesville Postmaster Sherry Burt presenting Rural Carrier John Higginbotham the NSC's Award of Honor


Next February, John will celebrate 35 years with the Postal Service. He grew up in Maplesville, still lives there, and has delivered there all of these years.


What has kept him safe all this time? "It's complicated," he said. "It's a lot of things."


In fact, he was right: he did have a lot to say about this topic. He offered so much good advice that we want to share it all with you:


He decided to be safe.  "One thing that I think is very important is that I wanted to be safe from the very beginning," John said. "You have to be determined and concentrate, not be distracted by the radio and cell phones. The radio can be a big distraction. A lot of days, I just cut it off."


This purposeful decision also causes him to actively search for ways to be safer. When he notices that the locations of mailboxes may pose hazards, he works to have them moved to safer locations.


A modest man, John credits his faith as being the reason for this decision. "The Lord has just kept me safe by inspiring me to want to be safe, which I think that is the most important thing," he said. "God has looked after me.”


He visualizes worst-case scenarios to keep them from happening.  "I have always assumed that every vehicle approaching is not going to stop or doesn't see me and that every ball always has a child behind it, " he said.

"I always assumed that at the top of every hill, around every curve, somebody was going to be there in the middle of the road. "

He maintains and equips his delivery vehicle. "I keep my vehicle in good shape," John said.

He and the other Maplesville carriers work together to examine each other's vehicles. All three carriers have also purchased strobe lights. "Strobe lights were big helpers," John said. "I got them after 10 or 12 years, and I noticed a big difference."

Because John has been a fixture in Maplesville for so many years, we had to ask him about some of the most interesting things that have happened on his route. He laughed and replied, "I wish that I had written a book."

He saved a man's houe from fire by getting a hose and calling the fire department. He has assisted multiple customers in times of distress, including helping a woman who was having a seizure in her yard. He has fixed lots of flat tires.

And when a customer's cow was struggling to give birth, John was a life-saver there, too. "I pulled a calf with him," John said. "I was raised on a farm.

But to him, it's all in a day's work for rural carriers. " Most rural carriers that I know go out of their way to serve their customers, serve them and also be friends with them.  I have a good workplace, a good community."

Maplesville Postmaster Sherry Burt counts John as an invaluable asset. Here is her tribute to him:

John is an asset to our office as well as our community.  He is an active team "worker," not just a 'member."  As he leaves the office each day, he always asks if there is something he can help with. 

His co-workers, as well as carriers from other offices,  seek his experience and knowledge in regards to rural delivery. 

He is active in his church, serves on the local utilities board, is a founding member of the local historical group, and is a volunteer with the Chilton County Baptist Association - Disaster Team.  After the storms in April, John used his own vacation leave to work with this team to clear debris in several damaged areas.  We are very proud to call John one of our very own.

John will also receive his Million Mile Award from the National Safety Council any day now. When it arrives, we'll make sure to be there to feature him again because he is one employee who deserves all of the priase and positive attention possible.

Postmarks thanks John Higginbotham for talking with us and Sherry Burt for the picture and for sending John's story our way.

Bessemer is doing it right

Once again, the employees at the Bessemer Post Office are going the extra mile to raise revenue and to provide the best service to our customers.

Several times in the past year, we have featured events and achievements in Bessemer: breast cancer awareness events, excellent VOE scores, an employee breakfast, a huge customer connect success, an Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) seminar, and the list goes on.

It seems like all of the Bessemer staff,  regardless of function or level, are striving together to achieve their common mission, which is the success of the Postal Service.

Last week's event in Bessemer was a seminar for people who are interested in selling things on eBay.

In the class, Christopher Ritchey covered all that one would need to know about shipping online items with the U.S. Postal Service. He also went over the Package Pickup service options, how to choose which option is right for you, and the four simple rules for pickup.

Participants in the class were also interested in learning more about Every Door Direct Mail and about how this new affordable service that the Postal Service offers can really benefit someone who is trying to grow a small business.

Postmarks can't wait to see what Bessemer's next move is going to be and hopes that their example will inspire and motivate other offices to try and top them. 

Grant Postmaster Dave Powell beats the heat and the competition

Grant Postmaster Dave Powell has been playing ice hockey for most of his life and is currently playing and coaching in the Huntsville/Decatur area.

Recently, when New Hope Postmaster Marianne Carr informed us that Dave's team had just won a national championship, we had to find out more, so we asked Dave to tell us all about it.



Team captain Dave Powell holds the trophy that was just won by his over-50 team.

Here's what he said:

From Montgomery to Huntsville, ice rinks are hosting league games, tournaments and pleasure skating events on a regular basis. Huntsville has two competitive teams: The UAH Chargers and The Huntsville Havoc semi-pro team.

Recently, I formed my first over-50 team and headed to Nashville for a major tournament. There were a total of 40 teams of several different levels playing over a three-day weekend.

The over-50 division consisted of teams from Michigan, Florida, Ohio and Alabama.

The first game was Friday night against Florida and resulted in a tie score of 4-4. The next game also tied against Michigan. Finally, on Saturday afternoon, we won a game by beating Ohio 3-2.

This put us in the finals playing Michigan again . It was a really tough game, but I moved the lines around and made some other changes that worked well. We won 5-1 and brought home the trophy.

It was a great weekend, and no one was hurt, which is always a good thing. Our team is sponsored by Gatr Technologies in Huntsville and was well represented by the Post Office as well. In fact, when I was there, I sold a book of stamps and mailed my buddy’s letters for him!

 



Congratulations on the big win, and we'll all be rooting for you to have many more.

Thanks to Marianne Carr and Dave Powell for the information and pictures.

Safety is no joke at the Theodore Post Office

Theodore Rural Carrier Wayne McKathan was presented last week with the National Safety Council's Award of Honor for 33 years of on-the-job driving with no accidents.



Theodore Postmaster Jackie Hughey-Miles presenting the NSC Award of Honor to Wayne McKathan

Theodore Postmaster Jackie Hughey-Miles had this to say about Wayne:

"Wayne has been an asset to the Theodore Post Office with his many years of dedicated service, excellent leave record and his quirky personality. He is dependable, blessed with a good attitude and brings laughs and smiles to his co workers.

Wayne's hobbies include running, biking and riding his motorcycle. He also enjoys concerts and group activites."

When we called Wayne to ask him his secret to achieving such an impressive driving record, we immediately understood what Jackie meant when she said the he keeps them laughing in Theodore. "It's pure luck," he said. "I'm not a good driver. I've had so many close calls."

But the key to what has kept him accident free was revealed in what he added next. "I'm always looking out for all of the crazy people. I'm all about defensive driving."

Congratulations to Wayne for his well-deserved Award of Honor, and Postmarks thanks Jackie Hughey-Miles for submitting the information and picture.

International Youth Day

If the print is too small for you to read, click twice on the image above. 

Sardis Rural Carrier Teddy Pouncey retiring after 40 years of service

Last week, this very nice article about Sardis Rural Carrier Teddy Pouncey appeared in The Montgomery Advertiser:



Rural mail carrier Teddy Pouncey spent 40 years delivering letters and packages to homes along dusty, damaged dirt roads in Dallas County. / ALVIN BENN/SPECIAL TO THE ADVERTISER

SARDIS -- From a distance, he couldn't quite make out what it was, but it wasn't moving as his pickup rumbled down the middle of a pockmarked dirt road in Dallas County.

The minute his front wheels hit it, Teddy Pouncey knew it was more than a black plastic garbage bag or a discarded piece of furniture. The last he saw of the alligator it was slowly crawling back toward the woods, trying to get away from a four-wheeled aggressor with a bite of its own.

"I'm not sure if I killed it or not, but I hit it pretty hard," Pouncey said. "There wasn't a lot of water around, so I don't know how it wound up here and in the road."

Relaxing Monday morning in the Sardis Post Office, 10 miles south of Selma, he talked about what it was like to travel over the same roads more than 12,000 times -- never knowing what conditions or critters he might find.

To continue reading, click here.



New Hope Rural Carrier Nancy Hicks returns long lost love letters

New Hope Postmaster Marianne Carr wanted everyone to be able to read about one of her rural carriers, Nancy Hicks, and the role that she played in reuniting some long lost love letters with their rightful owners at the time, the actual moment, when they were needed the most.

Marianne also emphasizes the specialness of hand-wriitten correspondence, how it can remain such an important part of a receiver's life and personal history.

Here is what Marianne wrote:

The picture that I am sending you is Rural Carrier Nancy Hicks (middle) with the son and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eual Worley when the three of them met for th first time on July 26.

Nancy had bought a scratched-up tin that had the logo for Chesterfield cigarettes 15 years ago at a yard sale. The picture postcards that were saved inside were from Eual Worley to his wife, Carrie, in the early 1940's.

Nancy had been trying to locate someone from the family to return the postcards to. As luck would have it, she saw Mrs. Worley's Obituary from the Times.


There was no visitation. The Graveyard service was 7/26/11 at 10 o'clock. Mrs. Hicks came into work to start casing her mail route and asked if she could take a day of annual leave. In a flash, her reliable sub was ready to run the route.

Nancy went to change and made the 10:00 funeral. The daughter, Mrs. Sharon Henson, was so touched by Nancy's efforts to give the postcards back to a family member, she notified The Huntsville Times.

The front page article is entitled LOST LOVE LETTERS, by Mark McCarter

The article did not state that Nancy is a Rural Carrier

This story is a testament to the hand-written word,  which is lost in email. One strong point about sending letters, postcards and greeting cards is that the sender actually held the article in their hand and wrote the message personally.


I used to cram on the lipstick when I was sending my sweety a letter with that special closure, a kiss. I have my own cedar box full of love letters myself!

Thanks for sharing that with us, Marianne!

Here is the beginning of the article from The Huntsville Times. To read more, click on the CONTINUE link after the excerpt.

New Hope yard sale discovery leads to 'memory for the rest of life'
From The Huntsville Times
by Mark McCarter

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- It cost Nancy Hicks 25 cents. How it wound up in a yard sale behind a New Hope minimart is "a piece of the puzzle we'll probably never know," she said.

The cheap purchase turned out to be a priceless packet of sentimentality leading Hicks on a 15-year search that finally ended last week at a Huntsville funeral home.


This story began in 1943, with a romantic World War II soldier and devoted husband named Eual Worley. On the rare days he didn't write long letters home to wife Esther, back in Missouri where they'd met, he'd send a quick postcard.

Dearest Darling:

I just came up town to mail your other card & letter so I thought I'd send you one of this part of the country. I can't send you my new address yet - so until I can, use the old one - I know something: I love you.
Eual

Esther saved each one, storing them in a Chesterfield cigarettes tin. Said her daughter, Sharon Worley Henson, "She kept everything. She was very sentimental."

But somewhere through the years, she was separated from the postcards.

Carrie Esther Woods Worley died July 23 in a nursing home near Marietta, Ga. She was 96. She was returned to Huntsville for burial at Maple Hill Cemetery next to her husband, Eual, who died in 1996 after working as a store manager and insurance man after the war.

The story doesn't end there.

It's just beginning.
CONTINUE>>>

Coden Carrier Kelly Milne: 31 years and 300,000+ perfect miles

Today, we're featuring the accomplishments of another Alabama District winner of the National Safety Council's Award of Honor, Coden Rural Carrier Kelly Milne.



Coden Postmaster Ronnie Adams with Rural Carrier Kelly Milne

The Award of Honor is for Postal employees who drive as a part of  their jobs. The minimum qualifications to receive the award are 15 years or 100,000 miles without a preventable accident (to see the full list of requirements, click here to go to last Wednesday's post).

Kelly's record on the road leaves those minimum qualifications behind in the dust. She has been with the Postal Service for 31 years and has driven approximately 345,280 accident-free miles. What an impressive record of focus and care!

Usually, employees who are conscientious in one area of performance try to be that way in everything that they do, and that seems to be the case with Kelly, too. Coden Postmaster Ronnie Adams took this opportunity to give Kelly public recognition for the credit whe deserves overall as an employee and as a person:      

Kelly is the type of person who gets to work 15 to 30 minutes ahead of time; she always says that she doesn't like to be late for work. Se has lived here in Coden all of her life, so she knows everyone she delivers to.

She really goes out of her way to serve her patrons. Just last week, there was an elderly woman who needed her medication, but she couldn't get to the post office to pick it up. Kelly volunteered to take it to her on her way home.

Kelly was on her route when we called Coden, so we asked Adams to inquire about Kelly's successful approach to safe driving.  

I asked Kelly what contributed to her safe driving record. Kelly works on a very busy street, so she must use extra caution. She responded that

• she is ALWAYS conscious of other drivers because you never know what they are going to do. 
• she always looks before pulling out, even when she sees nthing in her mirror.
• she always leaves  way out for herself to keep from having to back up. She knows that backing up is one of the leading causes of accidents.

Thanks for the words of wisdom, Kelly, and congratulations on your much-deserved award.

Postmarks also thanks Postmaster Ronnie Adams for sharing the picture and for telling us all about Kelly.

Winning Over Willow House

Willow House is a company based in Birmingham, Alabama, that sells an extensive line of tasteful yet affordable home decor products through home parties.

In the past, Shipping Solutions Specialist Sonya Mitchell had approached the company several times about using Priority Mail to ship their products, but she was never able to win their business.

But Sonya didn't give up. Since Willow House made it clear that Priority Mail wasn't a workable option for them, Sonya decided to change tactics and instead proposed that the company use Parcel Select.

Sonya and Business Alliance Manager Steve McCurdy then met with WIllow House. Steve suggested that FedEx SmartPost might be the best fit. Willow House decided to give it a shot.

Willow House liked what they saw during their test back in 2010. As a result, they now use the service for all packages up to 6 pounds.

They ship around 500 packages each day, which to the Postal Service translates into gaining over $325,000 in revenue!



Butch Bell,  WH Sr. Vice President Operations; Michael Renda, Manager Transportation/Networks; Keri Bush, Networks Specialist; Mike Falkinburg, WH Logistics Manager; Charlotte Hutto, WH Director of Inventory Management: John Burt, WH Distribution Director; Sonya Mitchell, Shipping Solutions Specialist

This success story illustrates the kind of revenue generation that can be achieved for the Postal Service by employees noticing companies in need of our shipping solutions and that persistance can pay off in big ways.

Duncanville Post Office National Safety Council Honorees

This year, 52 Alabama District employees will receive the Award of Honor from the National Safety Council for being safe drivers. Considering that there are approximately 8900 Postal employees in Alabama, this is quite an achievement: only .6 percent have earned this prestigious designation.

Award of Honor recipients are all employees who have met the minimum requirements to be considered for a much larger award,  the 2011 USPS Joseph M. Kaplan Safe Driver of the Year Award, the winners of which will be announced in November.

These requirements are
• Nominees must be full-time drivers whose primary responsibility is to operate buses, trucks, passenger cars, or other motor vehicles on a regular basis in the performance of their normal duties.
• Drivers who have been involved in an accident during the award period will be declared ineligible, unless it was ruled as a non-preventable accident.
• Nominees MUST meet the minimum requirement of 15 years or 100,000 miles driven without a preventable accident to be considered.
• Nominees must have been employed by the U.S. Postal Service for at least 1 year (12 consecutive months).
• Nominations must be made by someone familiar with the nominee’s work history, such as a supervisor, coworker, or professional peer.
• Nominees CANNOT nominate themselves.

Duncanville Postmaster Patricia Bolling was the first to invite Postmarks to showcase her two award-winning drivers, Rural Carriers Yvonne Watts and Kay Christian.

Duncanville Rural Carriers Yvonne Watts and Kay Christian


Only six employees work at the Duncanville Post Office, so to have two of them receive the award shows how focused the Duncanville staff is on staying safe.


“Here, we work as a team. Everybody works together well, and everybody participates in our safety talks, " said Bolling.


"When I’m doing driver observations, I see that all of my carriers do an excellent job of following safety rules; these two are the ones with the most years."


"This office has been accident-free for the five years I’ve been here and, I believe, for about 5 years prior to that," Bolling said.
 

Yvonne Watts, Postmaster Patricia Bolling, Kay Christian


We asked Yvonne and Kay to give us some pointers about how carriers can remain safe on the road.

Yvonne: “Watching the other fellow is more important than anything. You really have to know and pay attention to your surroundings. On the highway, you have to always be aware of the people behind you, too."

Kay agreed, and added, "You always have to be alert and especially watch out for kids."

Yvonne also wanted other employees to know how important saving her sick leave has been for her. She recently had back surgery and had to be off from work for three months. During that time, she didn't miss a paycheck. "And I still have 20 days of it left," she said. "It really does pay to save your sick leave."

Congratulations to Yvonne and Kay, and hopefully, over the course of the next month, we'll be able to share more pictures of Alabama's safe driving superstars.

Line dancing, Birmingham style