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Smallwood - February 5

The Hub of Our Wheel

James Loney - Community Correspondent
Posted 3/4/21

March 5 - In a country hamlet like Smallwood, which lacks a Main Street where commerce and governance come together, there are few places where residents can bump into each other, talk about their …

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Smallwood - February 5

The Hub of Our Wheel

Posted

March 5 - In a country hamlet like Smallwood, which lacks a Main Street where commerce and governance come together, there are few places where residents can bump into each other, talk about their lives, and energize the life of the community. (All the more reason, folks, for supporting and reading your local newspapers!)

Right now in our little village in the forest, there is only one place where people can always find each other and talk. I mean, of course, our Smallwood, NY 12778 Post Office.

Since 2015 the Postmaster who has run this essential beehive of Smallwoodian activity has been Paul Wilbur. Paul's last day of work for us as the man most in-the-know about our hamlet is Friday, March 26th.

Folks, please remember to stop by during the week of his departure and tell him how much you've loved knowing him. Tell him how much you've appreciated his long service to us and acknowledge please his long hours, his swift completion of the most difficult logistical tasks, his passion for public service even through snow, rain, heat, or gloom of night.

When I arrived in America back in 1993, people enjoyed hating the USPS. It was a Federal service considered inferior to its upstart commercial competitors. Things have changed. Now almost everyone in America loves the Postal Service. You know why? Because of people like Paul Wilbur.

Paul started with the Postal Service back in 1987 in Stanford CT. Long before his first day there as a letter courier, he remembers touring his local post office in his hometown, Livingston Manor. “Maybe I was in the third grade,” he says. “I thought: working at the Post Office! Now there's a job I would love to do!” Paul moved through several locations and held the position of Officer-in-Charge in several other local towns (Liberty, Lake Huntington, Yulan).

Over the years much has changed. In the 80's, scanners and computers and GPS tracking systems were unknown at USPS; nowadays these technologies dominate post office workflow. Still, as anyone who goes into the 12778 office can tell you, the human hand is always turning the wheel at the Post Office.

Listen carefully and you'll hear Paul sliding slender envelopes into neighboring PO boxes as you remove your letters. Maybe the Dutch door to the rear office will swing open and Paul will lean out, package in hand. He saw you coming! He knew you!

Maria Forlenza, Paul's supervisor and Postmaster of the White Lake, Bethel, Kauneonga Lake and Smallwood offices, is effusive. “Paul is an amazing walking talking encyclopedia of USPS information and experience.”

No politician, no reporter, knows Smallwood or Smallwoodians better than its Postmaster. Paul grows passionate and wistful talking about the job he has done for most of his life. “It's really the people. First on the arm of their mother. Then with a gown and mortar board. Then with their own kids, then with a walker. Then the cycle starts all over again.”

Paul and his wife Joan, also a longtime postal worker, are planning a road trip around America to celebrate his retirement. Godspeed them on their way! Thank you, Paul Wilbur!

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