Troup welcomes new postmaster
BY SUZANNE LOUDAMY Staff writer

When did the post office start taking draft choices and making trades? Must have missed that. But don't miss this. Troup has a new postmaster. Well, he's not really new, more like a "new again." That would be Bill Harris.

Harris and Lupe Tyer offered themselves up in a trade deal with USPS, and in the swiftest move ever made by the postal system, they traded jobs. Traded locations that is.

Tyer was in Troup and was living in Palestine, making the long drive. Harris was postmaster in Frankston driving to and from Chapel Hill.

"It just made sense," Harris said. "And our superiors agreed to it so here we are."

Chapel Hill is home to Harris and his wife Edith. They grew up together in the Chapel Hill schools.

"We started the first grade together and sat side by side at graduation," Harris said.

"Coming back to the Troup office is a dream come true for me," Harris said. "I really wanted to come back to Troup. I was here for about one and a half years some time ago and have wanted to come back ever since."

With 31 years of postal experience under his belt, beginning as a carrier in Tyler, Harris said he's done just about every job coming up the ranks in the postal system.

Harris hopes to stay in Troup until his retirement, whenever he's ready for that move. He says that's not in his immediate future plans.