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PB&J wars are waged by two postmasters

By Staff | Jun 24, 2009

By MEL TOADVINE

mtoadvine@breezenewspapers.com

The two postmasters, the one at Lehigh Post Office and the one at Alva Post Office are declaring war and the winner will be decided at the end of this month. Actually the war thing is a fun thing between two good friends, who are actually officers in charge at the two postal stations.

Acting Postmaster RuthE Von Gunten-Persad has challenged Mark Pi, the acting postmaster at the Lehigh Post Office on Business Way to see who can collect the most peanut butter and jelly.

“It’s a food drive specifically looking for PB&J. Too many children in our area had been squirreling away portions of their school lunch to take home for their siblings. Now that school is out, its scary to think what these kids are going through. While PB&J is nothing fancy, its something all kids seem to like that’s good for them too,” said Pi.

He has set up a big box in the lobby of the Lehigh Post Office and is urging everyone to come by and drop jars of peanut butter and jelly into the collection box.

“It’s really a great cause,” he said.

However, he said RuthE VonGunten-Persad, and that is how she spells her name, Pi said, emailed him a few nights back to say her running tally puts her at more than 800 pounds of peanut butter and 700 pounds of jelly.

“That may be an insurmountable lead,” Pie admitted. “Of course, she’s using her connections in other offices in Lee and Collier counties to maximize her collections. But that’s fine by me. It’s all for a good cause. So it’s not really a David and Goliath scenario, unless you reverse the roles,” he said.

“Lehigh Acres has a collection hamper set up in our lobby for donations. Residents are also able to leave it in their mailboxes for carrier pickup. Again, I don’t know official dates for the drive. RuthE and I are calling our wager based on numbers through the end of June. Unless mandated otherwise, I intend to leave the hamper in the lobby all summer,” Pi said.

The officer-in-charge in Alva and Pi have agreed that the loser has to eat three PB&J sandwiches in two minutes.

“The catch is the other office gets to make the sandwiches, opening the door for some roof-of-the mouth stickin’ fun,” Pi laughed.

“I know some of the area businesses are in on this undertaking. Its not a postal project, just a good-natured face off between neighboring offices and friends. If our clients leave peanut butter or jelly in the mailboxes, like I said, we’ll pick them up and their carrier will take it from there,” Pi said.

But Alva and Lehigh are calling a winner at close of business, June 30.

“We are having fun, but you know, our kids are counting on us, Pi said. The Lehigh Post office is at 1201 Business Way and Pi is the officer in charge.