Photo by Jenny Kirchner
The back room of the Idyllwild post office is like an ocean of every form of paper you can imagine. Hundreds of forms, envelops, packages of all shapes and sizes take over every inch of the rooms, except narrow walking paths for the workers to maneuver through.
It’s organized chaos, but to the untrained eye, the word “organized” doesn’t even exist. The good news is there’s a new trained-eye in town to make sure all runs smoothly.
Idyllwild’s new Postmaster Ray Wilson has been employed with the U.S. Postal Service for 37 years since leaving the U.S. Navy where he retrieved bombs and was a diver. It was never in his plan to have a career in the postal service. It was supposed to be a temporary job before going back to school. However, Wilson enjoyed the customer service and the pay was good after coming out of the Navy.
Making his way through multiple positions at many locations all over the country, Wilson is now landing towards the end of his career in Idyllwild. Wilson started his new position as postmaster on Sept. 29.
This isn’t Wilson’s first time working in Idyllwild. He was on a temporary detail from November 2018 through May 2019 before he had to go back to Riverside, which he didn’t want to do.
“I begged to come back up here,” Wilson said. “So when I saw this position open up, I jumped on the opportunity. This [position] is serving the customers. Down in Riverside, it’s more political than it is up here.”
When asked what he anticipates for his future in Idyllwild Wilson said, “I’ll be here for at least three years before I retire. I have a great crew of four, which makes us fully staffed. I hope to be out in the community more to help people with whatever postal needs they might have.”
Be sure to stop in and say hello to Wilson when you make your way into the post office. Wilson is excited to connect and serve the community.
