A warm welcome

MOSES LAKE - The new Moses Lake postmaster's swearing in ceremony was a real family affair.

Friends and relatives gathered alongside current and former Columbia Basin postmasters to greet Debbie Welden as she was officially sworn in as postmaster.

Welden said she officially began at the post office July 7, but the ceremony had been postponed while she was in the process of moving to town.

Welden began her postal career in Tacoma as a clerk in 1980.

"When they first started forwarding mail by computer, that's when I started," she said.

From clerk, Welden became a city carrier and then went into management.

In 1999, she was first appointed as a postmaster is Wapato, then she moved to Grandview and, most recently, she held the position in Shelton.

"If there's anything they ever need, please feel free and contact me and I'll see if I can help with whatever I can," she said of the Moses Lake community. "I live in the community, and that's my goal, to be very active."

Everyone she's met has been very nice, Welden reported.

"With the fire, now I know the fire marshal," she laughed.

Her truck had caught fire while in the driveway of her new Moses Lake home two days before the ceremony. There were no injuries.

Welden urged patience as the post office goes through a transition.

"Right now we're struggling," she said. "We just appreciate it if everyone would bear with us. We're struggling in every one of our (facets) - our rural carriers, our city carriers and our clerks. We're doing the best we can. As we're hiring, going through the procedure, we are going to have a lot of new faces because I've been hiring."

The test to become a postal employee is open until Sept. 14, she added. The Moses Lake Post Office posting number, required for the test, is posted in the office lobby.

The test only opens once every few years, Welden said.

Several of Welden's relatives offered their praise and love for her before the ceremony, held inside the Moses Lake Post Office Thursday afternoon.

Longtime friend Bob Carpenter said Moses Lake is getting the state's best postmaster.

"I've worked with her, I know what she's capable of and I'll tell you what, she'll stay on top of everything," Carpenter said. "You won't have any problems here."

Carpenter worked with Welden in Tacoma.

Father Arthur Welden believes Moses Lake is privileged to get the quality of people it has.

"Not just with (Debbie Welden), but with all that I've seen so far," he said.

Mother Dee Welden said Debbie started at the bottom at the post office and worked her way up.

"She's just done it all," she said.

Daughter Katie Robinson said her mother is caring and puts people before herself.

The move to Moses Lake puts Debbie Welden nearer to her family in the Tri-Cities, Robinson and Dee Welden said.

"She's very professional and she's very dedicated to her job," sister Trish Smith said. "She's got a lot of years of experience and I think she's going to be a real asset to (the Moses Lake) community."

Longtime friend Mel Miller said he's incredibly proud of her.

"I've been associated with Debbie probably well over 20 years, and it's just an incredible thrill to see her at this level of success," he said. "She will do her very, very best to provide the best postal service possible for this community, and she will be successful at doing that."

During the ceremony, Debbie Welden introduced the friends, neighbors, relatives and employees who turned out to support her. The event including a rendition of "Happy Birthday" to her son, Levi, who turned 16 the same day.

Mark Stoppleworth, manager of post office operations representing the Seattle district, swore Debbie Welden into her position.

"For me, the title of postmaster and the opportunity to serve a community as postmaster is one of the greatest privileges I think any postal employee has the power to participate in, or has the privilege to achieve," Stoppleworth told the gathered audience. "Communities have teachers, veterinarians, doctors, newspapers - but communities only have one postmaster. One of the reasons I appreciate the position of postmaster so much is because that individual is an individual of integrity, honesty (and) a leader not only within the office, but within the community."