March 8: International Women's Day

Happy International Women's Day!

Many of you have suggested famous Alabama women that we should have included on our Women's History Month flyer.

In an attempt to display a more comprehensive appreciation towards our Alabama women, here is a list of some more famous Alabama females.

Tallulah Bankhead, actress (Jasper)

Janice Rogers Brown, Judge- United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (Luverne)

Brett Butler, comedian (Montgomery)

Nell Carter; actress, singer (Birmingham)

Courteney Cox, actress (Mountain Brook)

Angela Davis, activist (Birmingham)

Mahala Ashley Dickerson, lawyer (Montgomery)

Deidre Downs, 2005 Miss America (Pelham)

Fannie Flagg, author and actress (Birmingham)

Louise Fletcher, actress (Birmingham)

Betty Lou Gerson, voice actress, "Cruella de Vil" of One Hundred and One Dalmatians (Birmingham)

Mary Katharine Ham; journalist, video blogger, Fox News contributor (Montgomery)

Mia Hamm, soccer star (Selma)

Emmylou Harris, singer (Birmingham)

Alexis Herman, former Secretary of Labor, (Mobile)

Sylvia Hitchcock, Miss USA and Miss Universe 1967 (Tuscaloosa)

Linda Howard, romance writer (Gadsden)

Kate Jackson, actress (Birmingham)

Katherine Jackson, mother of Jackson 5 (Barbour County)

Mae C. Jemison, astronaut (Decatur)

Helen Keller, writer (Tuscumbia)

Harper Lee, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer (Monroeville)

Zora Neale Hurston, author (Notasulga)

Rosa Parks, civil rights activist (Tuskegee)

Paula Poundstone, comedian (Huntsville)

Condoleezza Rice, former United States Secretary of State (Birmingham)

Marie Rudisill, aka "The Fruitcake Lady", Truman Capote's aunt (Monroeville)

Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, writer (Montgomery)

Coretta Scott King, civil rights leader (Marion)

Toni Tennille, musician (Montgomery)

Cynthia Tucker, columnist and editor (Monroeville)

Margaret Walker, poet, author (Birmingham)

Dinah Washington, singer (Tuscaloosa)

Heather Whitestone, 1995 Miss America (Dothan)

Barbara Wiedemann, poet and English professor (Montgomery)

Kathryn Tucker Windham, storyteller and author (Dallas County)

Tammy Wynette, country singer (Red Bay)

If you would like to learn more about any of these women, you can go to search on google for lots more information.

For the rest of this month, we will now focus on women and the USPS.

Consumer Protection Week March 7-13

While we are in the midst of Consumer Protection Week, Postmarks is going to help you keep the clowns from getting your money.

When completing financial transactions, here are some basic guidelines. When you encounter anything resembling these scams, the red flags should go up: 


1. Beware of free trial offers. Companies that offer them often will require that you submit bank account or credit card information in order to receive the free product, subscription, or service, and then will proceed to take money from your accounts on a monthly basis without your explicit permission. 


2, The odds are pretty good that are that you are not going to win a lottery or sweepstakes, especially one that you didn't enter in the first place. 


3. You are not going to inherit money from a rich person that you don't already know. Nor are you going to be asked to be the distributor of their wealth. 


4. You can't work from home and earn a living unless you're a really successful writer or you have spent a lot of money, sweat equity, and years developing your own business. There really is no such thing as easy money. 


5. Don't  wire funds via  Western Union, Moneygram, or any other wire service unless it's to a friend or family member. Once that money is gone, there is no way for you to get it back. 


6.  Safeguard your financial information. Give it out carefully, in transactions that you initiate. 
Shred bills ad documents that you are not keeping filed in a secure location.


7. Safeguard your computer. Keep your virus and firewall protection up to date, learn how to make secure passwords that can't easily be guessed, don't use the same password all of the time, and change your passwords on a regular basis. 


8. Carefully go over your bank and credit card statements and report suspicious activity as soon as possible. 


9. Research everything. Many savvy people have been duped by scams that appear real. It always helps to go to google and under the search bar, type in whatever you're considering along with the word scam to see what comes up. There's also the Better Business Bureau, Snopes, and many other sites that can help you. 


10. In order to keep from being solicited in the first place, you can register your landline phone or cell phone with the Do Not Call Registry online at www.donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222. 


More information to follow as the week progresses. 


To read the Consumer.gov article about the top ten scams of 2009, click here.

Operation Freeze Iraq

Student government members at Jemison Middle School sent care packages filled with freezer pops to American troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan in their project called OPERATION FREEZE IRAQ.

This week, the students sent 88 boxes of freezer pops, two truckloads' worth, overseas.

"The boys are the ones who loaded and unloaded all of the pops (from school to truck to post office). The girls did most of the packing and writing the mailing labels as well as completing the customs form to go with all 88 boxes," wrote teacher and SGA sponsor Shonda W. Copen.

Assisting the Jemison Middle School group was Timmie Smith, a Jemison Post Office retail associate. Several times, Smith went to the school and instructed the group on how to properly pack the items and complete the necessary customs forms and helped them unload the packages when the trucks arrived at the Post Office.

Timmie Smith, Retail Associate

Smith, a veteran who knows firsthand what it's like to be on active duty in a sweltering environment, modestly underplayed his own role in the success of this project. "I didn't do anything but my job," Smith said.

Postmarks wishes to thank the Jemison Middle School students, their sponsors, and Timmie Smith for working so hard to be kind and thoughtful. Your efforts will positively impact more people than you'll ever know.

Weaver Post Office Honors Local Artist

The following article was submitted by Weaver Postmaster Roswitha Sparks:

 Paintings by Larry Cunningham Featured during Black History Month

Weaver Retail Associate Barbara Summers and Artist Larry Cunningham

A reception was held for Larry Cunningham on Friday February 5, in the lobby of the Weaver Post Office. Refreshments were provided by Postmaster Roswitha Sparks and staff.

Mr. Cunningham is a self-taught artist and has been painting in oils and acrylics for 45 years. The artist believes that art is a bridge that connects people. “ We are different from one another, but we are also very much the same. I call my art Conversation Pieces," states Cunningham. Mr. Cunningham was born in Anniston and grew up on the same street as the girl who would later become his wife.

Several paintings by Mr. Cunningham were on display at the Weaver Post Office the entire month of February for customers to enjoy.

Beverly Hills Post Office Time Capsule

Today, The Los Angeles Times reported that while examining old newspapers, a Beverly Hills historian read about a time capsule that had been hidden in the Beverly Hills Post Office in 1933. 

That old post office is now being restored and converted into being part of a center for the performing arts, with construction crews on site. 

The Old Beverly Hills Post Office. Picture Courtesy SPF:a

The city decided to look for the time capsule and found it in a cubby behind a cornerstone in the old building.

To find out about the contents, click  here.

Ubi Duo in Action

Lille Bell Williams and Cassandra Waller

Yesterday, we witnessed how truly helpful the Ubi Duo can be when hearing-impaired and hearing employees are trying to communicate.

Lillie Bell Williams was relocated from Atlanta to Birmingham last week. She is hearing impaired and was having trouble getting answers to her many questions about the relocation process.

While taking Williams on a tour of the Birmingham Plant, co-worker Cassandra Waller learned of Williams' frustrations and brought her upstairs to use the Ubi Duo, and it was only then that the full extent of Williams' lack of information became clear. Waller was then able to connect Wilson with the appropriate administrator.

Williams' questions were answered and stress over the transition relieved because communication became possible with the Ubi Duo.

Another happy result to the improved communication was that once learning of Williams' predicament, Waller also wanted to do whatever she could to make Williams' move to Birmingham easier: within a matter of minutes, Waller returned to the workroom floor, told other co-workers about Williams, and arranged a welcome package for her.
Williams was nearly overwhelmed with their display of kindness.

Cassandra Waller and Tour II Birmingham Plant employees, Postmarks is touched by your thoughtfulness. And Lillie Bell WIlliams (and all of the other new relocat-ees), we welcome you to Alabama with open arms.

This week's On The Job, On the Ball Academy Award belongs to all of you.

Women's History Month

March is Women's History Month. Postmarks is particularly interested in profiling past and present Alabama USPS employees. Readers, any suggestions?