Alert Associate Helps Bust Fraud Attempt

Nashua, NH -- Retail Associate Nancy Carver called Loris, SC, Postmaster Bobbie Green about a customer who had mailed an Express Mail shipment containing $5,000 in postal money orders to Green's office. Nancy was suspicious of the transaction. She thought her customer might be the target of a mail fraud scam. 

Green contacted Postal Inspectors, who investigated the incident and confirmed the customer was indeed a potential scam victim. Inspectors successfully recovered the postal money orders and returned them to the customer.

A Satisfying Deal

Kevin Flanagan and Jon Ford

Kevin Flanagan and Jon Ford

   

    Kevin Flanagan and Jon Ford

SALEM, NH – Seeing a steady stream of customers on the very day an advertising piece hits mailboxes is a small business owner’s dream.

When Jon Ford opened Devanti's Roast Beef & Pizzeria in May 2011, he tried traditional advertising to promote his new business: Val-Paks, weekly circulars, and newspapers, but had little success.

Then, Salem Letter Carrier Kevin Flanagan introduced Ford to Every Door Direct Mail. After seeing impressive results with his first mailings of 10,000 menus using the new program, Ford placed a second order for 25,000 more.

 When asked what he likes best about Every Door Direct Mail, Ford says, “price, ease of use and the ability to target specific routes.” Flanagan relates that Ford received a call from a customer who had received the menu inquiring about the exact location of the pizzeria. “Jon explained to him that it was right next door to Planet Fitness,” he said. “The customer said laughingly that he works out at that gym three times a week and never noticed Devanti's was in the same plaza!”

“This is a great example of how well Every Door Direct Mail can work for any small business on a limited budget,” said Salem Postmaster Heidi Stewart, who helped facilitate the sale. 

"Above and Beyond"

When Atkinson, NH, Sales and Service Associate Nancy Connors took a call from a customer who was looking for an important Priority Mail package he'd ordered, she did what she normally does and got down to tracking down the mailing.

She made numerous phone calls and kept in contact with her customer to reassure him that she was actively engaged in finding where it was. Her tenacity paid off and she succeeded in locating the package. Ultimately, she made arrangements to get it delivered to him that very day.
In small town Atkinson, Nancy not only knew her customer but understood he was very ill. The package contained important medication, and getting it to him timely was not only therapeutic for the body, but for his soul as well.

Sadly, her customer died later that week. In a personal, handwritten letter to Postmaster Ed Maciejewski, the customer's widow said of her husband, "He was never able to thank Nancy in person, but he wanted to. We will always be grateful for her diligence and kindness."

Postmaster Ed Maciejewski calls Connors "a one-in-a-million employee. She is always going above and beyond."

Walpole, NH, Rural Carrier Commended

When Walpole, NH, Rural Carrier Richard Parkhurst observed that his 88-year-old customer's mail had not been picked up, he dismounted his vehicle to investigate. He knocked on the door and heard the customer yell for him to break down the door because he had suffered a bad fall. 

Parkhurst called 911 and waited for EMTs and local police to arrive. They determined that the customer was severely dehydrated from being immobile for three days. The carrier's actions allowed the octogenarian to be treated at a local hospital. Afterwards, the latter's family expressed deep appreciation for helping their uncle receive medical care.

Parkhurst received a commendation from the rural carriers' union and a personal letter of thanks from PMG Pat Donahoe.

Holiday in a Combat Zone

Members of the armed services regularly make "care package" deliveries to in Afghanistan –and especially on Christmas Day, when they help soldiers on the ground enjoy the holiday.

United States Marine Staff Sgt. Michael Evans, a crew chief with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369, checks Priority Mail "care packages" loaded onto a UH-1Y Huey at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, Dec. 25. The helicopter squadron flew thousands of pounds of holiday packages to infantry Marines at forward operating bases in that war-torn country on Christmas Day.

Michael Evans is the son of Troy Evans, a mechanic in the Concord, NH, Post Office.

 

Special Flag Ceremony

U.S. Army Guard Chief Warrant Officer Clifford Thibodeau is a recipient of the Army's Medal of Valor for his service as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot in Afghanistan. In October, Thibodeau carefully folded and stowed a U.S. flag which was flown during one of his Medivac missions and shipped it off for display at his local American Legion post in Winterport, ME.

When he received the flag in Maine, Argonne Post 138 Commander and retired postal employee Phil Higgins had a better idea. He approached Winterport OIC Fern Mansel with the idea of raising a battle-tested flag over her Post Office to honor area veterans during the week preceding Veterans Day. She readily agreed, but Higgins had saved the best news for last:  He told her that the flag was sent by Thibodeau -- Mansel's older brother.

On Monday, November 7, Thibodeau's parents and family along with Winterport citizens, Town Manager Philip Pitula and postal employees attended an emotional ceremony during which Mansel raised the flag over the Winterport Post Office. 

"It was an overwhelming experience," she said afterwards.

The flag remained flying over the Post Office until Friday, Veterans Day, when it was moved to the town's Memorial Library. There it held a position of honor during Veterans Day ceremonies and then through Thanksgiving.

"It will be used to remind us of the selfless sacrifices our servicemen and women make every day to protect our country," said Commander Higgins of the well-traveled stars and stripes sent by an American hero with local roots from his dangerous post, half a world away. 

 

250 Years and Counting

Toni Dattola on horseback presents the
Town Charter to Postmaster Ann Wentworth.

Newport, NH, celebrated its semi-quincentennial in October with a special pictorial cancellation. A visit from Governor John Lynch, barn dancing and a cake-eating contest contributed to an outsized milestone celebration with a small-town feel.

At the conclusion of a dance skit performed to the song “Mr. Postman," a rider on horseback delivered  the town charter to Postmaster Ann Wentworth. 

"I announced that 250 years ago, the mail would have arrived by horse or stage," said Wentworth, "so I delivered the town charter which was then read aloud by 'town cryer' Dan Cherry."