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Familiar postmaster hopes to continue to deliver hometown feel in Prairie du Chien

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Lori Long (right) is the new Prairie du Chien postmaster. She is pictured with Cori Sadowski, manager of the postal operations district no. 4, who recently presented Long with her federal postmaster authorization from the U.S. postmaster general/CEO (Megan Brennan). (Photo by Gary Howe)

By Correne Martin

Lori Long was designated the new postmaster of the Prairie du Chien Post Office on Oct. 29. She was the official in charge for about a month before then, when Darryl Martin retired from the post.

Long is a familiar face to Prairie du Chien. She and her husband moved to the community in 1980, and raised their four children here.

Ironically, on Oct. 29, 1994, she started working for the U.S. Postal Service as a part-time flexible clerk in the Lancaster branch. After a couple years there, she took a position in the Prairie du Chien office. Then, in 2006, she was promoted to business service network representative at the USPS district office in Milwaukee, where she worked with medium to large internal and external customers sending mail, understanding regulations and solving problems.

The Milwaukee Brewers and Boston Store/Younkers were among her biggest accounts.

“It was wonderful; it was fun. I learned a lot. I had 176 accounts at one time,” Long said. “I spent nine years there.” While working in Milwaukee, she lived in Germantown for some time but also right in the city of Milwaukee.

“It became home, but it was still not my ‘home’ home. It wasn’t Prairie du Chien,” she noted.

With a great number of her family members still residing in the Prairie du Chien area, including two of her children, Long jumped at the chance to move back two years ago. In June 2015, she returned as a supervisor, before taking the postmaster job.

“I always wanted to come home and be the postmaster,” she said.

Now five months into the position, Long’s goal is to get the local post office back up to speed. She said a number of retirements and changes left the office slightly short staffed for awhile.

“But I have a great crew. They’re doing a great job keeping up,” she said.

Looking ahead at her duties, Long anticipates continued streamlining of carriers and rural carriers. She said expenses have to be cut as first-class mail is dwindling.

“It’s an exciting time with a lot of technology coming down the pipeline but it’s also tough sometimes,” she insisted. “We still want to maintain our customer service. We want to keep that hometown feeling, that family atmosphere that’s so important to our customers. They love that. I’m very excited to be home and I do bring some knowledge and resources with me.”

Those hometown customers, Long said, did a terrific job keeping their sidewalks clear over the winter. The Prairie du Chien Post Office staff is ready for spring, which also means the annual Stamp Out Hunger non-perishable collection drive is approaching. This year, the Hunger Task Force and USPS collaborative event will be Saturday, May 13. Carriers will drop off the blue plastic donation bags at homes in the area the week before the drive. Then, the carriers and volunteers will pick up the donated items on May 13.

Don’t forget to stop into the post office to pick up a variety of specialized packaging, greeting cards, gift cards and to complete passport paperwork. For more information, call 326-6914.

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