Photo by Olivia Burton.
Lonnie and Pam
Lonnie and his wife, Pam, celebrated his retirement in Cherokee Bend on June 27.
When I introduced myself to Lonnie Brewster at his retirement party and told him my name, he immediately told me my home address in Cherokee Bend.
“No way,” I said. “How did you know that?”
With 30 years working for the United States Postal Service (USPS), Brewster explained, you start to pick up a few things.
Brewster still remembers his first day on the job in Ensley. After growing up in Pell City, he knew very little about the Birmingham area.
“I was scared to death,” he said.
Brewster started picking up routes in the Cherokee Bend area in 1991, but he officially began working in the area in 1998. Upon his retirement, his delivery route included approximately 475 households in Cherokee Bend and surrounding areas.
In his 30 years working for the USPS, Brewster has seen a lot of changes, most of them having to do with technological advances.
“It’s not big steps, just small steps at a time,” he said. “But it’s to the better.”
Brewster said that he was shocked when he heard of the neighborhood’s plan to host a retirement party for him on June 24, a few days before his retirement on June 27.
To the residents on his delivery route however, there was no question.
“He just goes out of his way,” said Cherokee Bend resident Tricia Pugh. “If you’re out, he stops and talks to you and asks what’s going on or asks about the kids and the family.”
The celebration took place on the corner of Appomattox Road and Stone River Road on June 24. Attendees wrote thank-you letters to Brewster and “delivered” them to him in a mailbox.
Neil Patrick, “The Ice Cream Man,” from Goodies Ice cream brought his truck to the party, and attendees enjoyed a Fourth of July themed cake for Brewster.
Debbie Chandler, who helped organize the event along with Betsy McKewan Byars and several other neighborhood volunteers, explained how everyone seems to have a “Lonnie story.”
“If somebody’s lost their dog they tell Lonnie, and if somebody hits a dog Lonnie stops to help,” said Chandler. “And if somebody’s sick, Lonnie brings the mail to the door.”
Cherokee Bend resident Jonibel Smith said that although she has lived in Cherokee Bend longer than Brewster delivered mail there, she will miss his dependability and his friendly persona.
“I saw him at the grocery store one day and he said, ‘Hello Mrs. Smith!’” she said.
Brewster said that what he will miss most about his job is the people that he makes friends with along his route. He described himself as a people person who cannot go through the day without talking to someone.
Lonnie Brewster lives with his wife, Pam, who works at Kirkwood by the River. He plans to spend a lot of time fishing along the Coosa River during his retirement.
