Washington, NJ / Warren County – Postal custodian Charles Schutts was recognized this morning for his 42 years of federal service at a ceremony at the Washington NJ Main Post Office in Warren County. Surrounded by family, friends, and co-workers; Schutts was presented awards and honored for more than four decades of service by Postmaster Dell Buckley, USPS Northern New Jersey District Post Office Operations Manager Maryanne Batten, and Hackettstown NJ Postmaster Dwight Jones. Jones is Schutt’s former boss, who served as Postmaster of Washington from 1999-2007. 

 With no plans on retiring any time soon, the 79 year old Washington Borough resident has served as the custodian and maintained the Main Post Office at 30 Belvidere Avenue since August 1970. To put it in perspective, Charlie’s career spans the tenure of a total of thirteen Postmasters and Officers-in-Charge (acting Postmasters) in Washington, NJ.

 Postmaster Buckley, who referred to Schutts as “Old Reliable,” lauded the 79 year old for his four decades of commitment. In his remarks, Buckley used a quote from Thomas Edison to illustrate Schutts’ reliable work ethic: “The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration.”

 The U.S. Postal Service processes more than 177 billion pieces of mail in 2009 for delivery to more than 141 million addresses. Many of the employees who accomplish this monumental task are integral members of their communities through their work on the job during natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and other emergencies, or by their community service activities off the clock. Charles Schutts’ 42 years of service and his work ethic are reflective of the spirit, diversity, and pride that are the strengths of the United States Postal Service.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no direct support from taxpayers. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th in the 2009 Fortune 500.