All the best wishes for your dreams to come true, from Thompson

4th Quarter 2008, Volume 3, Number 75
All the best wishes
for your dreams to
come true, from
Thompson Mailing
David J. Thompson Mailing Corporation
21 Naus Way, P.O. Box 150
Bloomsburg, PA 17815-0150
Employee Spotlight
By Lisa Chernesky, 2nd shift Quality Control
Hossneara Mondol, 2nd Shift Assistant Supervisor
Date of Hire: November 16, 1998
Birthday: July 1
Hossneara “China” Mondol was hired in November, 1998, as a 2nd shift machine operator. She became a QC in 2001.
In the summer of 2005, she returned from maternity leave to the position of 2nd shift supervisor. She recently received
her 10-year anniversary denim jacket and is pictured inside this issue with David. Thompson Mailing is China’s first job.
Hossneara was born and raised in the Pabna district of Bangladesh. She’s number 8 of 9 children. Her mother, three
sisters and five brothers are still in Bangladesh. She studied the Arts and History at Ishurdi for two years before leaving
college to marry Ferdous Mondol in August, 1996. China followed the traditional culture of her country and accepted her
chosen spouse for marriage. As Bangladesh progresses and changes, arranged marriages are declining. It is estimated
that only 25% of marriages are still arranged. A Bangladesh wedding typically lasts three days. To accommodate
traveling relatives and the preparations for the festivities, it could take a week to complete.
After less than one year of marriage, Ferdous came to the United States. On May 3, 1997, Hossneara endured a 22
hour flight and arrived at JFK airport scared and excited to join her husband and several in-laws in a country with a
different culture and language.
To pass the time at home in Bloomsburg while Ferdous was a work, Hossneara did a lot of reading and hand-made
clothes. She also liked to watch TV. She still enjoys these pastimes, but it’s difficult to find time while raising her active
4 year old daughter Nusrat. She still finds time to make big dinners because she does like to feed and entertain
guests.
When I asked what Hossneara liked about Thompson Mailing she said, “I chose to work second shift because the
hours fit our daily home schedule. Also, the Supervisors and Quality Control, and employees all work together so it
feels like “home.”
United States Citizenship
First shift machine operator, Claudia Guevara, received her United
States Citizenship on December 8. All of first shift celebrated the event
with the traditional Thompson cakes decorated similarly to the one
shown in the picture at left. Surrounding one of the cakes clockwise left
to right are Claudia, 1 st shift Supervisors Odalys Fenstemaker, Donna
Welsh, Lisa Bigelow, and 1st shift Lettershop Manager Peter Dapas.
Claudia started at Thompson Mailing on April 19, 2004 as a part-time
machine operator and was quickly utilized as a Hispanic production
trainer. After working full-time as the trainer for several years, Claudia
changed her status back again to a part-time machine operator.
Claudia lives in Berwick and enjoys spending time with her son Fernel. Before moving to Berwick, Claudia worked at ADP
in Brentwood, New York, a company very similar to Thompson Mailing, so it was an easy transition to work.
Claudia came to the United States in 1992 when she was in the tenth grade. She knew very little English but quickly
learned to speak and write fluently while enrolled in the Jamaica, New York schools. Her mother still lives in New York. Her
older brother married and moved to Texas, and her younger brother married and moved to Virginia. Sometime in the future,
Claudia would like to have the time to visit El Salvador, her home country, where her father still lives.
Congratulations, Claudia. We are proud of your accomplishment. Also, thanks for sharing your cakes with us.
Newsletter
Advisory
Team
STAFF
ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTORS
PHOTOGRAPHY
John Cartwright
Lisa Chernesky
Mary Ann Christ
Leanne Grace
Harry Shamenek
Joan E. Thompson
John Cartwright
Mary Ann Christ
Debora Readler
Heather Stankiewicz
Wellness Corner - Attendance and Punctuality on the Job
“I can’t understand why my boss keeps riding me about being a few minutes late every day. I make up the time at
the end of the day - I mean, what’s the big deal? It’s not like anything important happens in the time I’m late. Besides,
my boss doesn’t undertand how busy I am. I have a lot of stuff to do in the morning.”
Does this story sound familiar or do you know anyone who acts or feels this way? One thing is certain. Most people, including
yourself, live busy lives, but we must learn to take care of priorities. A job, whether we like it or not, is one of the top necessities of
life. We need the money we earn not only to enjoy our life-style but also to survive.
When employers schedule their work day and plan what is to be accomplished, they need to know they can depend on the
people they have scheduled. It is difficult, if not impossible, to plan a day or assignment schedule if you don’t know when or if a
key employee will show up. Face it, sometimes an employee might not realize how far-reaching his or her importance is.
Being habitually late or missing work is not a personal private thing - it does affect others. When one member of the team is
not there to do his/her assignment others suffer.
Of course, employers do not expect you to work if you are truly ill. They also realize that emergencies occasionally come up
that require tardiness. In these cases, it is extremely important to let your employer know as early as possible so that appropriate
action can be taken to cover for you while you are out.
Employers need dependable people. Employers don’t like to play guessing games. There is money as well as the company’s
reputation at stake, and they must know that a job will be covered or completed on time.
Punctuality does not only apply to arrival time in the morning but also to returning from lunch or break.
Remember, when you work for someone and accept pay from them, you are forming a work contract. It is your duty to be at
work regularly and on time. Employers don’t hire people to give away money - they hire them to produce. No matter how
unimportant you may think your job is, if an employer is paying you to do the job, he thinks it is important and should get his
money’s worth.
And don’t forget - success is built on teamwork and if you don’t do your part - you cause the team to erode and begin to fall
apart. When you do your part, the company succeeds and makes money, and you make money.
GO TO WORK @ THOMPSON MAILING - IT PAYS! - See Below
Excerpt from Professional Personnel Development Center, University Park, PA, http://voc.ed.psu.edu/projects.
Perfect Attendance at Thompson Mailing
Each of the hourly employees listed below received an additional cash bonus for perfect attendance in 2008. We
wish you another healthy year in 2009. It pays!
Luis A. Acosta
Yvonne J. Balliet
Lisa K. Chernesky
William N. Davis Jr.
Jeremy Fowler
Jose Garcia
Leroy Gensel
Lois A. Hirleman
Fifi Janis
Paige Kashner
Jason Knauer
Olivia Mata
Jose A. Melara
Kathryn Mills
Nancy Molyneaux
Rubyet Jahan Mondol
John G. Oldenbuttel
Romeo L. Pedro
Santos Isabel Perez
Benedict J. Sayles
Aaron Traugh
Timothy Watts
Martin Weaver
Theresa A. Weisheimer
Sylvia Whitenight
Angela Woodruff
Striving to Stay Fit
Join us!
Membership Benefits Include
member support group
monthly national magazine
exercise and menu tips
private weigh-ins and group incentive
challenges and prizes
sports and day trips for exercise, fun, relaxation
AT
Weighing In
The members plan to get back on track after 3 holiday events occurred to end the quarter and the year. Although the 4th
quarter shows a gain of 10.75 lbs., the chapter had a net loss of 46.25 lbs. during the year of 2008. Despite this small setback,
the members know this is a temporary lapse in eating judgment, and they also know what must be done to Take Off Pounds
Sensibly in 2009.
TOPS® Theme for 2009 - “It’s My Time!”
You can’t put time in a bottle and store it way. However, there is a time for every purpose. Time is only on your side when you
make it work for you. The new TOPS® theme reminds us of the importance of using each moment we have to our best
advantage.
What does time mean to you? The dictionary defines it as “the point or period when something occurs.” Is this your time to
make certain that positive change occurs and continues as a journey to good health?
Remember, It’s My Time . . .
to put my health FIRST!
to Take (or Keep) Off Pounds Sensibly.
to improve my exercise and physical activity.
to live a healthy life-style.
Ask yourself, “If not now, when?” The time is now!
TreeFest 2008
Thompson Mailing sponsored a $175 community tree at the annual Bloomsburg Theatre
Ensemble fund-raising event held at the Caldwell Consistory in the Town of Bloomsburg on
the two weekends following Thanksgiving. The Thompson TOPS® Chapter #1584 decorated
the tree with white lights and 100 calorie snacks to fit the theme, “Snackin’ Around the
Christmas Tree.” For a $4 admittance charge, visitors observed over 140 trees that were
cleverly adorned by other community, church, and business groups. Pictured are the “Snackin’
Around the Christmas” tree and its decorators.
Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drawing
The lucky winning employees from three
shifts are pictured with their $20 gift card to
purchase the holiday turkey and trimmings.
Thanks to David and Joan these
employees, families, and friends enjoyed a
bountiful holiday meal.
Annual Halloween Costume Contest
Some of you might be old enough to remember
watching weekend cartoons and following the bouncing
ball sing-a-long. This is our version of follow-the-bouncing
ball Halloween Contest Winners. Good Luck recognizing
this year’s uniquely clad employees.
First Shift Winners
1st Place - Operator Christian Mumford, Scarecrow, #1
2nd Place - Customer Service Tricia Deochan, Thompson
Mailing Prisoner with BreakOut Buster, #1
3rd Place - Operator, Priscilla Bloom, Holstein Cow #1
Second Shift Winners
1st Place - Operator, Aaron Pebley, White Tiger, #12
2nd Place - Operator, Mike Mitchell, Headless Man, #3
3rd Place - Quality Control, Lisa Chernesky, Ogre/Fairy, #2
Third Shift Winners
1st Place - Operator, Patricia Unger, Punky Brewster, #9
2nd Place - Supervisor, Peggy Unger, Goth Woman, #11
3rd Place - Operator, Shawn Diltz, The Hustler, #13
Guess Candy Corn Contest Winner
1st Shift Operator Alice Lipovsky, #14
Additional contestants are #1 Row One - Witch is Operator
Brandy Walton, 1950’s Poodle Skirt Gal is Customer
Service Kimberly Breech with Miss Lily, Blue Clues is
Giovanna Ramos, Cowgirl is LaDonna McKenzie, and Row
Two - Mr. Debonair is Postal Affairs Clerk John Thackray,
Witch is Joan Thompson #4 Leoprachan is Michael
Mitchell, #5 1970’s Flower Child is Quality Control Angela
Woodruff, #6 A/C D/C Wild Fan is Supervisor Max Force, #7
Cowboy is Operator Aaron Trough, #8 Gothic Bride is
Operator Terri Allen, #10 Wolfman is Operator Amy Molter.
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Gordon Thompson Learning Center
By: Leanne Grace, Associate Director of Curriculum and Program
Parenting: Permission to slow down!
Do you feel overwhelmed by all the mixed messages defining your role as a parent? Are you
bombarded by ads for your child to join every organized event from art lessons to zen meditation? Do
you feel guilty if you don’t sign up your child and wonder if it is OK to just let your child have “free”
time? Are you deluged by carefully marketed media materials pressuring you as a “good” parent that
buys, enrolls and enriches your child? Do you wonder about the claims of “educational” programs and
materials to insure your child’s school success and entry into the “ivy leagues?” Do you experience a sense of being
frazzled, rushed, hurried and harried?
If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, perhaps you have inadvertently fallen into the “hyper-parenting”
trap. This phrase describes a child-rearing style where parents become over-involved in every detail of their children’s
academic, athletic and social lives. They over-enrich their children’s environment and over-schedule them. Despite
knowing what is in your heart, you continue to keep rushing because of the fear that, in cutting back, you could harm
your child’s future.
In reality, hyper-parenting can damage your child’s self-esteem. The message your child is receiving is that he or
she may be inadequate. Doctors suspect that this hyper-rearing way of life may be ultimately contributing to teen-age
depression, substance abuse and inappropriate social activities. In the past 20 years unstructured children’s activities
are down 50%, family dinners have declined 33% and family vacations are down 28%.
What to do? Be a role model for your children. Parents need to enjoy their adult life. Most parents would benefit
from rushing a little less and reflecting a little more. Parents who enjoy each other are happier, more relaxed, and can
be more genuinely involved with their children. Cutting back just 5 to 7 percent in scheduled activities can help families
embrace sanity. It is even good for your child to be bored sometimes. Dealing with boredom stimulates later life
creativity, imagination and problem solving. Children need time to think, discover, imagine, pretend, build, draw, paint
and play outdoors.
The most constructive support you can offer your child is time…time to communicate sincerely that you know your
child is good, intelligent and deeply loved. Children spell LOVE – T-I-M-E. When you over schedule and orchestrate
your child’s life your actions and gestures communicate that you are nervous about their future.
Fred Rogers said it best “I love you just the way you are,” which is the greatest gift you can give your child, the
deep, inner conviction that your child doesn’t have to perform, score goals, swim better, be a computer whiz or a
concert musician.
Peeking around the Christmas tree at the left are
some children from the learning center preschool class.
Every year we count on the class making ornatments and
decorating the employee lobby tree.
Posing at the tree left to right are Human Resource
Benefits Administrator Heather Stankiewicz, Manager
John Carwright, and Assistant Debbie Readler. They helped
coordinate the trimming of the tree for Santa’s arrival.
Quietly Giving
2008 Annual Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble TreeFest
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
Multimedia Sales & Marketing Child Abuse Prevention
Geisinger Foundation, Dr. Tom Balz Adult Down’s Syndrome Project
Financial Wellness
Pictured left to right Accounts Payable Jason Knauer, Payroll Theresa
Weisheimer, CFO Bill Peysson, Head Accoutant Todd Brown, Accounting Assistant
Ed Smith, Accounts Receivable Sandra G. Church. The department excerpted the
following recommendations from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/28.
2009 Financial Resolutions
NEW YORK, December 28, 2008
(CBS) Getting your finances into shape is a top resolution for 2009.
Kelli Grant, Senior Consurmer Reporter for SmartMoney.com, offers five
simple things you can do to put your best financial foot forward this new
year.
Firstly, take control of your investments. The worst thing you can do during a down economy is panic and pull all of your
money out of your investments. Resolve to protect your finances as the market storm rages on. Take this time to build up your
emergency fund, and set reminders to regularly review your portfolios asset allocation.
Stay positive by turning economic lemons into lemonade. The struggling economy isn’t all bad for your finances, so look for
that silver lining. Mortgage rates have dropped to near 40-year lows amid the housing crisis, which makes it a great time to
refinance or even buy a home. Struggling retailers are offering record sales, too, so there’s no reason to buy even the basics at
full price.
It’s also a good time to improve your credit score. As lenders tighten their criteria in the credit crunch, you’ll need at least a
760 on the 300 to 850 point FICO scale to secure most loans or lines of credit. Track your score for free on CreditKarma.com.
Pay bills on time, keep old credit cards open, and pay down those balances.
And put your savings to work! It’s not easy to save a lot when your finances are already stretched tight. But make sure
whatever you can save is earning a good interst rate. There are still safe banks, like HSBC and Emigrant Direct, offering about
3% for a no-fees online saving account.
Finally, stick to a budget. Keeping a budget is actually an easy resolution to keep thanks to a host of new sites like Mint.com
and Quicken Online that automatically track and sort every transaction. They’ll even alert you when bills are due or your spending
is close to the limit you’ve set.
For more on this and other financial topics, go to http://www.cbsnews/stories/2008/12/28/personal finance.
by Kelli Grant and Jenn Eaker (c)MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Five Years of Service Ten Years of Service
Pictured left to right are 1st shift Operator Roseanne
Bowes, Joan Thompson, 1st shift Operator Michele
Lockman, and Customer Service Account Manager,
Tanya Hawkins. They are wearing a fleece jacket
presented to them by Joan to mark the occasion.
Pictured above with David is Second Shift Production Supervisor
Hossneara Mondol. She celebrated her 10th anniversary with the
company and received a Thompson Mailing denim jacket.
See the back page for the list of anniversary employees who will
be treated to dinner and awards. Invitations will be distributed.
Industry News
USPS PROPOSED CHANGES
FOR FOLDED SELF-MAILERS
AND LETTER-SIZE BOOKLETS
By Harry Shamenek, Postal Affairs Manager
During 2008 the USPS has been testing various mail piece designs for folded self-mailers and letter-size booklets.
Based on these test results, they are now ready to publish their proposed changes in the Federal Register. When
published, mailers will have thirty (30) days to voice their comments about how these changes will impact their
business. According to the USPS, these changes are necessary to be able to process these pieces on existing and
new automated processing equipment.
Following are the current vs. proposed changes:
·
Tabs: Most mailers today are using perforated vinyl or paper tabs. The USPS proposal would be NO perforated
tabs. Perforated tabs separate too easily and will cause equipment jams, according to the Post Office.
·
Tabbing: TWO tabs for Folded Self-Mailers and THREE tabs for Booklets. Self-Mailer tabs must be 1” minimum.
Booklet tabs must be 1-1/2” minimum.
·
Self-Mailers: Must consist of a SINGLE continuous folded sheet of paper. Multiple sheet self-mailers will be
considered as booklets.
·
Booklets: Maximum size dimensions will be 6 x 10-1/2” and 0.25” thick. Cover stock minimum changes from 20 lb.
to 40 lb. with 60 to 70 lb. for pieces longer than 9”.
The Mailing Community OPPOSES these changes due to an increase on POSTAGE going from a Standard Letter
to a FLAT Std. mail piece.
These changes would become effective in May, 2009.
Another Year to Celebrate -Congratulations
The list of employees below celebrated anniversaries during 2008. Plans for the annual dinner and awards
presentation are underway. The list of honored employees is below and these employees will be recognized in the next
edition of the newsletter.
15 Years
10 Years
5 Years
Yvonne J. Balliet
Audrey A. Bankes
Lisa K. Chernesky
Michelle M. Lutz
Harry T. Shamenek
Peggy S. Unger
Mary Ann C. Christ
Margarita S. Cruz
Norman A. Harris
Amy May Molter
Hossneara Mondol
John R. Smith
John D. Thackray
Jennifer Ann Williams
Joan M. Bankes
Rosanne Bowes
Tanya Hawkins
Elizabeth Houser
Michele Lockman
21 Naus Way, P.O. Box 150, Bloomsburg, PA 17815-0150
Phone (570) 759-6690
Fax: (570) 759-7160
E-mail: sales@thompsonmailing.com
www.thompsonmailing.com