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Daily printout: July 26


Friday, July 26, 2024

Rachel Moyer, a Charlotte, NC, technology acquisition program manager, appeared on “Jeopardy!” with Alex Trebek in 2017.
Rachel Moyer, a Charlotte, NC, technology acquisition program manager, appeared on “Jeopardy!” with Alex Trebek in 2017.

USPS employees share their stories of Alex Trebek

Some met the quiz show host while appearing as contestants on ‘Jeopardy!’

Alex Trebek, the longtime host of “Jeopardy!” who was honored with a stamp this week, had plenty of Postal Service employees among his fans.

Some got to meet him while competing on the TV quiz show.

Rachel Moyer, a technology acquisition program manager in Charlotte, NC, appeared on “Jeopardy!” in 2017, finishing in second place.

“It was interesting to see his personality come through in his interactions with the audience in between taping episodes,” she said.

“The thing I noticed most was his wry sense of humor, which I wasn’t expecting based on his professional onscreen persona.”

Casandra Leffler, an acting administrative assistant at the Pittsburgh Network Distribution Center, met Trebek when her husband, Dave, was a four-day champion in 2019.

“Alex was a very genuine, caring and extremely nice person in addition to being very knowledgeable. He liked to kid the contestants,” she said.

Leffler said that Trebek, who sported a signature mustache for 17 years, complimented her husband’s facial hair, saying: “Dave, that’s quite a mustache you have there. It beats mine hands down.”

Other employees met Trebek in chance encounters.

Madison, OH, Postmaster Darla Brewer and her daughter ran into Trebek at an ice cream shop in Washington, DC.

“My daughter went right up to him and told him of my love for ‘Jeopardy!’ and how I was his biggest fan and asked if he’d take a picture with me. He was so obliging and kind,” Brewer said.

When Daniel Brindza, a delivery support specialist in Cleveland, was a college student in 1989, he met Trebek, who was on campus as a guest speaker.

“I had no idea who he was. I am not even sure if I was aware of ‘Jeopardy!’ In all honesty, I was so busy with my studies during those years that I didn’t really keep up with pop culture and didn’t really watch a lot of television,” Brindza said.

But he did get an autographed photo from him that he still has.

“It really was not until many years after graduation that I realized what an amazing opportunity I received that day to meet one of television’s icons,” he said.

Other employees were fans of Trebek from before “Jeopardy!”

Melissa Arnold, a relief postmaster in New Cambria, KS, recalled her mother receiving tickets in 1975 to be in the studio audience for “High Rollers,” one of the shows Trebek hosted earlier in his career.

“I remember sitting somewhere in the middle of the audience, and as a kid, I was in awe of the cameras. I had no idea that this TV host would eventually become famous and well-respected,” she said.

For other employees, Trebek was like family.

Dearborn, MO, Retail Associate Jeanne Barber said watching the show “was just a part of the daily routine at our house. We had a great time trying to answer the questions and find out bits of trivia to add to our knowledge base.”

Teresa Rouse, a retail associate in Good Hope, IL, credits the show with raising her two sons to become “walking encyclopedias” from years of continually watching.

Whitney White, a supervisor at the USPS Customer Care Center in Troy, MI, remembers watching “Jeopardy!” with her brother while they were growing up.

“When we heard of Mr. Trebek’s passing, we contacted one another as if he were a family member,” White said. “Well, I guess you can say he was — he babysat us for a half-hour every day.”

Carter Scott, a Gaithersburg, MD, tractor-trailer operator, stands next to a postal vehicle.
Carter Scott, a Gaithersburg, MD, tractor-trailer operator, recently received the Postal Service’s Driver of the Year Award.
People

Scott’s honor

A USPS driver receives an award, a military community welcomes a new postmaster and a journalist salutes Forever stamps

Carter Scott, winner of the Postal Service’s Driver of the Year Award, has walked — or rather driven — the talk and then some.

“I believe in safety,” he says.

The tractor-trailer operator for the Suburban Processing and Distribution Center in Gaithersburg, MD, has had no preventable incidents since he began his career as a USPS driver in 1979.

The announcement of Scott’s win was made at the recent National Postal Forum, where Kelly Abney, who recently retired as chief logistics officer, accepted on his behalf. The driving ace will be officially presented with the award at his workplace.

USPS nominees for the award must have driven 15 years, or 100,000 miles, without a preventable incident.

“I drive the postal vehicle just as I drive my personal vehicle,” Scott said. “My intention is to return home each day to my family.”

Knox Knox, who’s there?

Mary Cardoza-Lane made postal history last month when she took the oath as the new postmaster in Fort Knox, KY — the first woman to hold the position in the military community about 35 miles south of Louisville.

“There have been acting postmasters before, but for actual postmasters, it looks like I’m the first one,” Cardoza-Lane told the U.S. Army website. “I thought that was interesting.”

Cardoza-Lane began her career in 2005 as a letter carrier in Louisville. She later served as a retail associate and postmaster for other communities.

“It’s always meaningful when you’re dealing with people’s mail, because it’s important to them,” she said. “But it’s more meaningful working with the soldiers.”

Ahead of the game

Want an investment that is pretty much guaranteed to return about 10 percent a year tax-free for the indefinite future?

Buy Forever stamps.

So says Allan Sloan, a financial journalist who penned an essay about stamps for the Barron’s news website last week.

Because Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price, they represent an investment like no other: Forever stamps are up 78 percent from their initial 2007 price, considerably more than the 52 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index during that period.

Of course, as Sloan concedes, you’d have to buy a lot of stamps to make the investment worthwhile.

Nevertheless, he writes, “I still get a small kick from being ahead of the game.”

“People” appears regularly in Link. Got news to share? Email us.

The Benjamin Franklin stamp released in 1993
USPS released this Benjamin Franklin stamp in 1993 to honor his career as a printer, postmaster and statesmen.
History

A revolutionary choice

Benjamin Franklin began his tenure as postmaster general on July 26, 1775

On July 26, 1775, the Second Continental Congress voted to create a postal system in the Colonies and selected Benjamin Franklin to lead it.

“Establishment of the post office was a bold move — and it was yet another thumb in the eye of the British King,” author and scholar Tara Ross wrote in a 2021 blog post.

It was imperative to the revolutionary cause that messages between those fighting for independence from the Crown were not handled by the Crown, so it made sense for the Colonies to create their own system.

Franklin had been both postmaster of Philadelphia and joint postmaster general for the Crown, and his work as a former newspaper printer —printing and postal services worked hand in glove in the 18th century — was also an asset.

Just one year prior, Franklin had been dismissed from his job as joint postmaster general, a position he held since 1753, for being deemed “too much of an American,” in his words.

Franklin’s short but transformative tenure ended when he moved on to his next adventure, as ambassador to France. On Nov. 7, 1776, his son-in-law Richard Bache took over the postal reins.

The “History” column appears occasionally in Link.

Eduardo H. Ruiz Jr., West-Pac Area vice president, speaks at a California 1 District career conference recently.
Eduardo H. Ruiz Jr., West-Pac Area vice president, speaks at a California 1 District career conference recently.
News Quiz

Career choices

Test your knowledge of conferences, records and more

“News Quiz” is a weekly feature that lets you test your knowledge of recent Link stories. The correct answers appear at the end.

1. Fill in the blank: The Postal Service holds more than (blank) career conferences each year.

a) 10

b) 50

c) 150

d) None of the above

2. To protect their USPS-issued devices from hackers, employees and contractors should:

a) Use strong passphrases with a minimum of eight characters

b) Always use a virtual private network, or VPN, to connect to the internet

c) Avoid using public Wi-Fi to access the internet, including at hotels and during flights

d) All of the above

3. True or false: The Freedom of Information Act gives the public the right to access records from any federal agency, including USPS.

a) True

b) False

4. Stephen Kochersperger, the new USPS historian, is a distant cousin of which former postmaster general?

a) Benjamin Franklin

b) Ebenezer Hazard

c) Arthur Summerfield

d) John Wanamaker

5. Match the Low Denomination Flowers stamp in Column A with its denomination in Column B.

Column A

a) Daffodils

b) Fringed Tulip

c) Peonies

d) Poppies and Coneflowers

Column B

I) 1 cent

II) 2 cents

III) 3 cents

IV) 10 cents

Answers: 1) b. 2) d. 3) a. 4) d. 5) a. II., b. I., c. III., d. IV

Brief

Postal Bulletin spotlights employee survey

Postal Bulletin’s latest edition, published July 25, explains what is involved with the Postal Pulse employee survey.

Updates to the organization’s policies, procedures and forms are also included.

Employees can go to usps.com to read and download the latest Postal Bulletin, along with past issues.

August 2, 2024
Datebook

EAP orientation

The USPS Employee Assistance Program will hold its next online orientation on Friday, Aug. 2, from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

The orientations, held on the first Friday of each month, offer information on how Postal Service employees and their families can use the program.

Employees must register in advance on the EAP website.

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