As USPS gears up for its 250th anniversary next month, a Chicago letter carrier is doing his part to promote local postal history.
Kalani Han, who works in the Ravenswood neighborhood on the city’s north side, recently created a permanent exhibit for the community Post Office’s retail lobby displaying rare objects from the 1870s onward.
For Han, it is “a way to connect people — past to present, neighbors to neighborhood, and national history to the everyday work we do as carriers.”
This month also marks the facility’s ZIP Code Day — when the local ZIP Code, 60625, matches the date — so Han set to work creating a monthlong exhibit and pictorial postmark featuring a raven, larch branch and oak leaf, the latter two representing trees that once filled the area.
The June 6 event drew more than 250 people.
“By the end of the day, customers were wishing each other happy ZIP Code Day. That moment of connection, of shared civic joy — that’s what the whole project was about,” he said.
ZIP, ZIP hooray
The Fontana, WI, Post Office also seized its ZIP Code Day in the sun.
A commemorative postmark was issued for the 53125 ZIP and collectors and residents alike lined up on May 31 to get their mail hand-canceled with the help of Wendy Karasek, a local USPS retail associate.
“We had a really good turnout,” Postmaster Cynthia Schneider said. “It was great to see so many people excited about something so uniquely postal. Events like this remind us how special ZIP Codes are — not just for delivering mail, but for bringing communities together.”
Bright’s future
Like all postmasters, Renee Bright took an oath to “well and faithfully discharge the duties” of her office.
For Bright — who took her oath as the postmaster in Merrick, NY, this month — that means doing more than the bare minimum.
“My goal is to have my employees enjoy coming to work,” she said.
Other items on her to-do list: sprucing up the Post Office and strengthening customer service.
In Merrick, a hamlet of about 21,000 on Long Island, Bright will oversee about 80 employees. She previously managed the Canarsie Post Office in Brooklyn.
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