New postmaster takes over
By Jim Hanson
Islander Reporter
 |
| Charlie Shannon |
"Our job is customer service," says the new postmaster for
most of Anna Maria Island, "and I want to meet every one of our
customers."
He is Charlie
Shannon, new to the Island but not to the U.S. Postal
Service. He comes here from Longboat Key, where he
was acting postmaster from October until Jan. 12 when
he was named postmaster of Bradenton Beach.
That post office's
delivery territory takes in all of Bradenton Beach
and Holmes Beach. The City of Anna Maria has its own
post office. While Holmes Beach has a post office,
it is a "contract station" and only rented
boxes receive mail.
He was born in
New Orleans, attended St. Petersburg College and Pasco-Hernando
Community College. Joining the U.S. Navy in 1976, he
served aboard the USS Saratoga as air traffic controller
and returned to New Orleans upon his discharge.
He worked for
the Hilton Hotels group until he decided New Orleans
wasn't for him any more, and he came to Florida.
He went to work for the Postal Service in St. Petersburg
in 1984, serving in every job the office had for 16
years, he said.
Then came
three-plus years as delivery supervisor at Ellenton
and a move for the family home to Parrish so his wife
Linda could commute to her job as bulk mail supervisor
with the Postal Service in Tampa. They have two daughters.
"This is
going to be the best post office in the Suncoast district," he
vowed. "I've challenged the staff to make
it so. It's always been great, now we'll
make it the greatest.
"Don't
forget, I came out of the hospitality industry where
I learned that the customer is king. Without customers
we couldn't survive, and I want to get to know
them all, especially business customers." |
