41st time is charm for new Buckfield postmaster

BUCKFIELD – Ernest Souther didn’t believe it when he got the call saying he would be appointed as this town’s new postmaster.

After all, he had applied for postmaster positions 41 times during his 23-year career with the U.S. Postal Service.

Souther, 53, of Livermore Falls was sworn in Friday while his wife, Rhonda, looked on.

Serving in the Air Force National Guard for 22 years, he was on active duty in the Air Force for eight. He began his career with the postal service as a clerk in Augusta and in 1984 was employed at the Rockland Post Office. He worked in various offices as carrier and clerk and served as an officer in charge in seven communities.

His appointment of postmaster was so significant to him that Gen. John Bubar, the last general under which former Master Sgt. Souther served before his retirement, traveled from New Hampshire to witness the swearing-in and wish Souther well.

Other special guests included Souther’s 90-year-old parents, Mr. and Mrs. E. Leroy Souther, Ray Miclon, his former teacher and coach from Livermore High School, and Scott Boardman, president of the National Association of Postmasters of the United States.

During the light-hearted ceremony, Randy Michaud, manager of post office operations in Augusta, told the well-wishers that when he called Souther to inform him of his new position, Souther just didn’t believe him. He called Michaud the next day to see if the appointment was really true – if he truly had been successful after 41 applications.

In his new post, Souther is responsible for processing and delivering mail to approximately 1,800 residents.

“The role of the postmaster is the same as it was when it was carved into the facade of the Washington, D.C., main post office, which is now the National Postal Museum,” Michaud said. That carving reads: “Messenger of sympathy and love, bond of the scattered family, enlarger of the common life, carrier of news and knowledge and instrument of trade and industry.”

In accepting his appointment, Souther thanked the crowd in several languages before explaining that his repeated efforts to apply for his desired post reinforced the lesson that he should never give up, something he said he learned from his father.

Souther introduced Sumner Postmistress Connie Shaw and Kim Lord, an assistant in the Buckfield Post Office, to the audience. “This team wants to give Buckfield the very best we can,” Souther said.

Postal employee Debbie Woods presented Souther with a framed set of enlarged Teddy Bear stamps. It was a play on Souther’s Air Force service nickname, “Mad Dog.” Woods said Souther isn’t that anymore, just a teddy bear.