Warsaw Post Office Manager Leaving After Eight Years
Posted
Jordan Fouts-
When Branch Manager Bill Belisle leaves the Warsaw Post Office this week, he’ll be leaving the longest posting in his career. Belisle served as manager of the Warsaw office for eight years, and will depart for South Bend and Knox assignments. His staff had a going-away party Monday with a cake and a card signed by everyone. He said Monday the people he worked with are what he’ll miss most. “This is my favorite place,” he told his crew. “I’ve been here the longest, and it’s because of the people.” He’s had a lot of assignments to compare it to, including Morgantown, W.Va., and Anchorage, Alaska. His years in Alaska may not have been his busiest, but they were memorable: long nights and low temperatures; overseeing delivery by plane and boat for the more remote customers. “It’s kind of nice in the summer months,” Belisle recalled. He also saw lots of mail for Santa Claus, addressed to North Pole, Alaska, ZIP code 99705. Indiana sees its own share of Santa letters, he noted, with the town of Santa Claus on the Kentucky border. Taking over as interim branch manager during the Christmas mailing season will be a challenge for Kimberly Sharpe, but not one she hasn’t faced before. In her 37 years in the Postal Service, Sharpe has overseen offices in St. Louis, Mo., as well as Syracuse, Rochester, Pierceton and the Warsaw branches. She noted that postmasters often go on detail assignments to get knowledge of other office workings in other areas. Belisle also said Monday that he enjoyed the rural farming surroundings while working in Warsaw, having grown up in Vermont with a grandfather who was a farmer. But that’s not to say Warsaw’s is a sleepy office – it’s one of the top-performing offices in the Postal Service, he observed, in large part due to the 24-hour satellite office stationed in RR Donnelly and Sons Co. Six postal employees are assigned there, while Belisle had overseen close to 70 in the main office. “The postal employees out there, that’s what makes Warsaw unique,” he said.
