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New postmaster enjoys small-town pace
Ellinwood postmaster
Sarah Goermann has been heading up the Ellinwood Post Office since Feb. 14. - photo by Michael Gilmore

ELLINWOOD — Ellinwood Postmaster Sarah Goermann doesn’t mind the hour commute from her home in Pratt every day. Three weeks into her new position, she likes her coworkers and she’s getting to know the community.

Goermann was hired as postmaster of the Ellinwood Post Office on Feb. 14. Her new position fits in with the lifestyle she has been driving for, she said.

Prior to 2019, she was a health-care manager in Great Bend, when she relocated to Pratt with her family.

“I drove to Great Bend for a year and a half until I found a job in Pratt,” she said. 

While she enjoyed the management aspects of her job, she was looking to scale back to spend more time with her husband and their children. She started looking at area listings with the United States Postal Service.

After completing entry requirements, she started as a clerk in the neighboring small community of Iuka. “I really liked it there,” she said, of the community of 160. “I was able to get to know everybody.”

She started a quick climb up the ladder, advancing to a career employee and taking a job as a part-time flex (PTF) in the Pratt post office.

“While I was a PTF there, I did distribution of the mail, all clerking duties like serving at the windows,” she said. She also served as a 204B (substitute supervisor) for 90 days in Pratt.

Still on the advancement track, she applied and was interviewed for the postmaster job in Ellinwood.

“You can pick and choose what position you want to apply for, but you have to be ready for it,” she said. “It’s not a typical application, you have to be able to sell yourself. You present your strengths and task situation formats and how you solve problems.”

And so, she’s driving again.

“It’s kind of funny in a way, because I’m driving the hour to Ellinwood. I’m back on the road. It’s not a bad drive, really,” she said.

She’s getting to know the people. 

“Small-town people are amazing anyway, so that’s awesome,” she said. “I am still working my way through the year before we get to our peak season close to Christmas. I’m really looking forward to that.”