Blog Post #7: Neither Rain, nor Sleet, nor Commemorative Stamp

Blog Post #7: Neither Rain, nor Sleet, nor Commemorative Stamp

            I’ll be honest with everyone. I don’t care for Facebook. I see it as something that must be done so I can keep in touch with my friends from high school and the many oodles of  my cousins that have dispersed themselves around the country. Sure, I am guilty of taking a “Which *Insert Work of Fiction* character are you quiz?” every now and then, but on the whole I can’t say that I take part in the Book of Faces. As such, most of the friends I have on Facebook are not used to seeing me post things. Or “like” things. Or show my presence in any shape, form, or fashion. Suffice to say, I’m sure they were slightly shocked this past week when I made four posts in less than 24 hours. Any guess why I made four posts in less than 24 hours? You guessed it! My last two weeks are being spent with Jacqlyn Kirkland: Public Relations, Media, Marketing, and Community Outreach Officer. (There is no guess as to why she drinks out of a Wonder Woman coffee mug.)

My timing this week was spot on (as usual). This past Wednesday was the First Day of Issue Ceremony for the Limited Edition Forever Stamp commemorating the 150^th Anniversary of the Battle of Mobile Bay. (Try saying that 5 times fast.) For those who don’t know, this was a very important battle during the Civil War. Feel free to take time and educate yourself on the battle. (You can do this after you’re done reading my blog.)

Program for the stamp event

Jumbo stamp showing detail of the Battle of Mobile Bay stamp

            The USPS arrived on Tuesday afternoon with several push carts full of supplies and equipment in preparation for the next day. It was obvious from watching them all that they had done this sort of thing before. (After it was all over, we asked how often they did this and they told us about 40 events a year. Dang.) Tuesday afternoon was pretty standard set up duty, though they did have cool trunks that had different snap-ons that turned them into tables. I’ll admit that as I looked around at the things we were doing and thought the next day would be a fairly average event. I was very wrong.

            The place was already buzzing when I arrived that morning. I had gotten there earlier than I normally do so I could join in preparations before the event actually started at 9. (Poor Jacqlyn had to be at the museum at 5 a.m. so she could do an interview with a local news station.) I say “join in” because everyone at the museum was doing something for this event, whether it be directing people toward the sales area or upstairs to the VIP area, passing out programs, preparing food (A tip of the hat to you, Mrs. Ellie) and many other things. It was very busy morning, though I did manage to slip away for a second to buy some stamps. (That’s what they were there for after all. Who was I to not support such a cool event?) As the morning went on, people flowed into the museum, either to attend the ceremony or to get their hands on some first day of issue stamps. Eventually, the time had come for the ceremony to get underway. This was the cool part of the day. My thoughts about this being a regular old event were very off base. You see, the US Postmaster General showed up. (By showed up, I mean he was invited. To just show up unannounced would be rude, even for a Postmaster General.) Along with the PMG, there were several other speakers including: Dr. Alsobrook, Mayor Stimpson, and David Smithweck.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe

             During this ceremony, my task as set forth by Jacqlyn was to take some pictures and post them to the museum’s Facebook page. It was very counterintuitive to do something like that during an important ceremony when it could get you thrown out of some of my classes back in Troy. My dear readers, I’m going to share a little secret with you. I… maybe…kind of….enjoyed it. Just don’t tell anyone. You agreed to a nondisclosure agreement a couple posts back, remember? (That’s right, you thought I had forgotten about that.) It was pretty cool to post on Facebook about the event while it was happening. I can see the fun in being the voice of an organization on the various forms of social media being utilized today. This doesn’t mean that I’ll start blathering on about how “I’m on my way to Wal-Mart” or how “this selfie looks better than my old selfie from 3 minutes ago.” It just means that I have been won over by the use of social media by certain types of organizations in certain circumstances in certain ways. (I’m nothing if not flexible.)

            The day after the Postal Event was a quiet day (as it should be) as Jacqlyn and I got the community gallery ready for next week’s ArtWalk—ArtRide. This is particular event is done in conjunction with ArtWalk and Mobilians on Bikes. Be sure to swing by the museum’s Facebook page to take a look at the details. (Sweet Roderick Mackenzie!!! I’m doing it already!) I’ll talk more about this in my next blog post. Just a heads up for all the people out there who can’t take surprises well, this past week was my second to last week. My internship ends on the 7^th. Brace yourselves accordingly for the lack of your weekly dose of Seth.

So with more to come,

Seth Kinard