Tuesday, February 20, 2024
A Radiant Star is born
The new stamp for business mailers has a bold, patriotic image
The Postal Service released its newest stamp for business mailers, Radiant Star, on Feb. 19.
The vibrant graphic design features red and white stripes that appear to radiate from a two-tone blue star.
Carol Beehler designed the stamp, while Antonio Alcalá served as art director.
The words “USA” and “Presorted Standard” appear along the bottom of the self-adhesive stamp, which will be sold in coils of 3,000 and 10,000 at Post Offices and usps.com.
There will be no national dedication ceremony for the stamp.
On the Job
Cultivating kindness
This postmaster walks the walk when it comes to helping customers
My name is Arlene Harper and I’m the postmaster in Simpsonsville, MD, a Baltimore suburb.
One of my favorite aspects of the job is interacting with customers. I’m a working postmaster; I work the window, and some customers become like family after a while. You build a rapport.
Every day is different. As I tell my retail associates, we don’t know what people are going through when they walk through those doors. Just be kind, smile and give the best service you can give.
I started with USPS as a part-time flex automation clerk in 1998 at the Dulles, VA, Processing and Distribution Center. After 90 days, I became an acting supervisor. I supervised bundle sorters and got to see how the mail came in — a little bit of everything. It’s an experience everyone should have.
I transferred to the customer services side around 2003, starting as a retail associate in Columbia, MD. I then became a supervisor at several Post Offices and completed detail assignments as an officer in charge before becoming Simpsonville’s postmaster in 2015.
I enjoy being a mentor for my employees, and I am always looking for ways to improve my operation.
My greatest accomplishment is my children. Having a job at the Postal Service enabled me to take care of them. When I started at the Dulles plant, I had two young sons. Working the overnight shift meant I was able to make their breakfast and pick them up from school before I headed to work.
It also helped me put them through school — both now have master’s degrees.
When I’m not at work, you might find me watching a rom-com or working on my Barbie collection.
Barbie teaches women and girls you can be anything you want to be, and so does USPS. The opportunities to learn and grow through the Postal Service are endless.
“On the Job,” a column on individual employees and their contributions to the Postal Service, appears regularly in Link.
Heroes
The buddy system
These two employees worked together to aid a co-worker in distress
Mail Processing Clerk Kenneth Anderson was recently on duty at the Billings, MT, Processing and Distribution Center when he saw a co-worker fall to the floor.
The man appeared to be having a seizure.
While 911 was called, Anderson used the facility’s paging system to announce the medical emergency. Electronic Technician Troy Mathis responded and helped Anderson move their co-worker away from the sorting machine where he had collapsed.
Paramedics soon arrived and took the man to a hospital. He recovered from the incident and eventually returned to work.
“The quick response from the Billings team greatly improved the employee’s care and chance of recovery,” said Carrie Stoner, the facility’s maintenance manager.
Employees featured in “Heroes” receive letters of commendation through the Postmaster General Heroes’ Program. The nomination form is available on Blue.
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered Feb. 11-17
Postmarks, presidents and precipitation made news last week
All Link needed last week was love — and maybe a little snow.
(OK, a lot of snow.)
We told you about the Post Offices across the nation that offer special postmarks for Valentine’s Day mail.
“We’re getting packages from all over the country — and sometimes all over the world — wanting that Loveville cancellation,” said Shawn Guy, postmaster for the small southern Maryland Post Office.
Link also covered the winter weather that affected much of the nation last week, including the nor’easter that blasted the Northeast.
Elsewhere, Link went “On the Job” with Jagbir Mangat, a Syosset, NY, letter carrier, and asked readers for suggestions for “Off the Clock,” our column on USPS employees’ after-hours pursuits.
Additionally, we remembered the postal system’s experimentation with pneumatic tubes, and with Presidents Day upon us (or Washington’s Birthday, if we’re being technical), we told you about Franklin D. Roosevelt’s stamp collection.
As Stephen Kochersperger, the acting USPS historian, explained, FDR’s enthusiasm for the hobby was contagious.
“Stamp collecting never had a higher profile than when we had a philatelist in the White House,” Kochersperger said.
February 24, 2024
Datebook
John Wooden
The Postal Service will dedicate its stamp honoring famed college basketball coach John Wooden on Saturday, Feb. 24, in Los Angeles.
The ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. Pacific at the University of California, Los Angeles’ Pauley Pavilion’s East Plaza at 325 Westwood Plaza.
The speakers will include Derek Kan, a member of the USPS Board of Governors.
Attendees are encouraged to RSVP online.
New postcard highlights Project Safe Delivery
The latest Delivering for America postcard was recently mailed to employees’ homes.
The card highlights Project Safe Delivery, which enhances the ability of USPS and the Postal Inspection Service to protect postal employees and secure the nation’s mail and packages.
In addition to being sent to employees’ homes, Delivering for America postcards can be downloaded from LiteBlue.
Each card addresses a different topic and features information that employees can reference when discussing the plan with co-workers and customers.
View past printouts
Printout details
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A Radiant Star is born
The new stamp for business mailers has a bold, patriotic image
-
On the Job
Cultivating kindness
This postmaster walks the walk when it comes to helping customers
-
Heroes
The buddy system
These two employees worked together to aid a co-worker in distress
-
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered Feb. 11-17
Postmarks, presidents and precipitation made news last week
-
February24Datebook
John Wooden
-
Brief
New postcard highlights Project Safe Delivery