The first annual reunion of retired postal workers was labelled a success by the more than 100 attendees who fraternised with their colleagues for the first time in years, swapping stories and reminiscing on days of old.

The event was held at the Christar Villas Hotel on Hope Road in Kingston last week and was a collaboration between Jam Post USA and the Jamaica Past Postal Workers Association ( JPPWA), both of which are charitable organisations with members who are past workers of the Post and Telecommunications department.

“It was a very heartwarming event. Persons were seeing persons they had not seen in over 20 years, they could hardly control themselves. People trying to remember faces and names,” said Joereen McLean, a retired postal worker who served as general manager of the Postal Credit Union for 43 years.

The initiative came out of various meetings of groups in the USA and Jamaica, which unearthed certain social, financial and other issues being faced by some past postal workers. It was decided that the formation of such associations would facilitate connections of these various groups, and give the opportunity to host fundraising events which could be used to create a fund to assist those members who fall on hard times.

During the reunion event, Livingston McCarthy, president of the JPPWA, delivered an overview of the association’s mandate and functions, while Cebert Mitchell and Clarence Frater delivered reflections on the role and history of the Post and Telecommunications Department.

Presentations and citations were made to Ivan Richards, president of Jam Post, Joereen McLean and Livingston McCarthy. Members of the audience were also treated to a special drawing with prizes of two laptops and a 40 inch smart TV.

The following day, the members met up once again at the Mystic Sports Bar on Hagley Park Road to play dominoes and board games, and to drink and reminisce about the good old days. Part proceeds of the event went to the JPPWA.

– Claude Mills