Cheers for city mail carrier

She's a mail carrier many New Rockford residents see six days a week, and who celebrates 25 years with the United States Postal Service (USPS) this year. A timely recognition, as Debbie Rost was selected as the New Rockford Chamber's Employee of the Month for June.

Rost started her career in 1997, with part-time status as a clerk in Carrington. As she explains, she often worked six days a week even as a part-time employee. Hired as a clerk in the Carrington post office, she was often sent to Harvey, Jamestown and even Cathay when help was needed to staff their offices.

Rost holds a degree in elementary education, so she was a substitute teacher and postal worker at times. She worked a "split shift" for the post office, from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., then worked a full school day as a substitute only to return to work at the post office from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

She has two grown children, Isaac and Emma. Isaac was like many kids when he was young, and he aspired to be a mail carrier like his mom. In a photo she shared with us, he is dressed up and ready to go on a mail route. The photo was taken in 2001, when he was 6 years old.

However, his life path went a different direction, and he is now an engineer. He works for Interstate Engineering in Jamestown. Emma is a registered nurse in Bismarck.

Rost transferred to New Rockford for a full-time position with the USPS in 2016

She has primarily worked as a carrier for one of the New Rockford city routes, although she has also been a clerk here.

It's fitting that she would come to work in New Rockford, as her father, Ronald Willms, was postmaster in New Rockford for many years. He was postmaster in Bowdon before "moving up" to the larger New Rockford office in the early 1980s. After a 30-year career for USPS, Willms retired in 2007.

Rost says that although the weather is unpredictable and sometimes not fun to work in, "New Rockford is a community that has a lot of good people in it. They are kind and generous."

She added that she appreciates the residents who go out of their way to keep the path clear for her as she goes on her route every day. She wishes she had more time to chat with the people, as she's the only person some of them see each day.