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I now pronounce you ‘postmaster’

An installation ceremony produces a surprise, two rural carriers step into a spotlight and a library gets a special postmark

Hartford, CT, Postmaster Tricia Lucas is surprised to see nephews Parker and Joey at her installation ceremony.
Hartford, CT, Postmaster Tricia Lucas is surprised to see nephews Parker and Joey at her installation ceremony.

Guests at the installation ceremony for Tricia Lucas, the new postmaster of Hartford, CT, could be excused for thinking they had wandered into a midsummer wedding.

Lucas was sworn in with a flourish: festive outdoor tent, colorful streamers and two adorable young attendants charming everyone as they made their way down the aisle.

The two youngsters, Lucas’s nephews Parker and Joey, were not bearing rings, however. They were piloting a mini-LLV.

Lucas comes from a postal family. The proud mother-of-the-bri — er, postmaster — Susan Adams, is a former postmaster, and Lucas’s brother, James Slattery, is a rural carrier associate in Rocky Hill, CT, where Lucas and Adams both got their start.

“Tricia met her husband at the Rocky Hill Post Office, too,” Adams said. He now works at the Springfield Network Distribution Center in Massachusetts.

Lucas praised those attending for supporting her in good times and bad.

“It is said that you become influenced by the people you spend the most time with,” she told the assembled crowd. “Many of you have not just supported my dreams but helped fuel them.”

Post it

The Nashville Post recently turned a spotlight on Bryce Shanklin and Sherry Bowland, two rural carriers at the Brentwood, TN, Carrier Annex.

In a wide-ranging article, the two employees discussed the importance of customer service and their pride in being Postal Service employees.

Shanklin’s holiday spirit — he’s been known to dress in a pink rabbit outfit around Easter and a Grinch costume at Christmastime — was also discussed.

“His customers love him and can’t stand it when he’s on vacation,” Jake Savage, a local customer services supervisor, told the Post.

Cancel culture

The Cozby Library in Coppell, TX, recently marked its 50th anniversary with a special pictorial cancellation from the local Post Office.

During a special event, more than 50 people lined up to receive the cancellation, which features an outline drawing of the library building with its years of service.

“I’ve collected stamps since sixth grade, but this is the first time I’ve been to a stamp cancellation ceremony,” said Mathew Ittoop, a member of the Friends of the Library, the group that organized the event.

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