Newcastle’s postmaster retires

Walter Sprague
NLJ Arts & Culture Reporter
 
After a 32-year career with the U.S. Postal Service, Postmaster Craig Ausmann will retire on Oct. 31. He started as a carrier in Newcastle and has served as the town’s postmaster for the past 13 years. Ausmann said he believes he is leaving the Newcastle post office better than when he stepped into the position.
“Before my arrival, this was a revolving door,” He said. “Nobody had any real vested interest in staying in Newcastle.”
Ausmann said that many previous postmasters, many coming from areas in Colorado, used the position as a stepping stone to move to bigger places. But he wanted to stay in Newcastle and serve this community. While he spent many years on the road, helping different Wyoming post offices design more efficient routes, his heart has always been where he started his postal career; in Newcastle. And he thinks that this has paid off.
He takes pride in the employees who currently work here. One of them is Elaine Fulk, who is presently a distribution clerk. She has worked for the post office for five years and will be the interim postmaster after Ausmann’s retirement date. Internally, the postal service will hire someone to fill the permanent position through a competitive selection process. Ausmann said that Fulk is a great employee who cares for the job and the community, and loves the interaction with the people of Newcastle. Fulk noted that she is excited to be the face of the postal service for the town.
“He (Ausmann) has been great,” Fulk said, “He’s a very good mentor. He always let me pick his brain to learn the job and get upward mobility.” 
She said that Ausmann had made the post office a great place to work. She hopes to continue making it a great working environment, she said.
Part of the job of postmaster included going to Washington, D.C., annually. Ausmann has met senators and members of Congress. One of the greatest memories of these trips was when he, and a group from Wyoming, got to meet then-Vice President Dick Cheney in the West Wing of the White House. He said that often when meeting politicians, they treat you as if they are above you and don’t have time for you.
“He wasn’t like that,” Ausmann said about Cheney, “Here we are, just a bunch of hillbilly postal workers, and he met with us for quite some time, and we really got to talk with him. He treated us as if we were important. It was a great experience.” 
Post Office Operations Manager, and Ausmann’s manager, Shawn Moore, admires the 13-year service Ausmann has given as postmaster. 
“When I became a postmaster,” Moore said, “There were a handful of other postmasters that made me doubt if I was worthy to be among their ranks. Craig is one of them.”
Ausmann said that, in his 32 years, he has seen a lot of changes. One of those was the introduction of computer systems.
“At first, I didn’t see the need,” Ausman said, “Now I couldn’t imagine doing the job without it.”
Another change was going from a letter-carrier-only service to a parcel-delivery service. 
“Amazon was a real game-changer,” He said, “We have become a big player in that area now; that was huge, but we are doing a good job.”
In his mind, one of the best parts of what he has done is the group of people who will be serving Newcastle in the future.
“I take great pride in the people who I handpicked for these positions,” he said, “This is a good group. I feel Elaine is going to be able to do this job very well.”
Ausmann takes with him some good memories about his 13 years as postmaster.
“The best memories are when we succeed in helping a customer,” he said, “When people call and say that you really helped them out. Those are the best. You seldom hear the good side in this business or most service industries. You hear about misdelivered mail or something like that. But the good memories are when someone calls and says that you helped them.”
“It’s been a good ride,” Ausmann said about serving Newcastle, “I tried to do the best I could do. I just hope it was a good job.”
“It has been a pleasure serving the community of Newcastle as their Postmaster,” he said, “That’s what we’re about — serving people.”
Ausmann’s future plans include pursuing more outdoor goals, such as snow skiing, hunting, fishing, photography and playing more golf. He is even thinking about  opening up a couple of small businesses, maybe even a woodworking and craft outfit with Michelle, his wife. But most of all, he wants to play it day by day, spend more time with his wife and just see what life will bring his way.
“It’s a little frightening,” he said, “But I’m excited to be able to have the time to pursue other interests now.”