SANTA ANA : Yule Carols Sent Special Delivery

On the busiest days of the year for customers of the Postal Service, visitors to the main post office are being treated to a curious sight: postal worker Pat Swagerty in uniform, sitting on a stool, strumming his guitar and singing Christmas carols.

Postmaster Jose Diaz said his office is swamped with mail, but he put Swagerty in the lobby to cheer up waiting customers.

“It gets their mind off the rush,” Swagerty said Tuesday during a break, as customers walked briskly in and out.

Traditionally, more packages and letters are mailed on the Monday before Christmas than any other day of the year, postal officials say.

Robert Gillis, plant manager for the Santa Ana mail processing center, said a county mail record for the year was set Monday, when workers processed more than 8 million pieces of mail, up from 6 million on a normal day.

The entire week before Christmas is extremely busy, he said.

Diaz said his office received 55 containers full of packages on Monday--far more than the 10 or 11 large containers that usually wait to be delivered.

Swagerty is caroling on his regular shift and being paid, Diaz said, adding that the unusual duty is an effort to improve customer satisfaction with the Postal Service. Ferrel McKee, a county manager of postal operations, said Diaz has the authority to let Swagerty carol on the post office’s tab.

“As people come in, they kind of do a double take, but as they leave, a lot of people have wished me Merry Christmas,” Swagerty said. “If I can get it in between phrases, I’m saying Merry Christmas back.”

Swagerty, who plays worship songs weekly at his church, sang traditional carols such as “Silent Night,” “Joy to the World” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”

Swagerty arrives in the morning and prepares the mail for his route before stepping to the microphone. When he takes a break to rest his voice, he goes back to help sort the mail, Diaz said.

Swagerty got the singing job after performing Friday at the post office holiday party. The pot-luck party was held in the back, but many customers heard his playing and praised it, so Diaz decided to bring him out front.

“With Patrick there, we find that a lot of the people are actually talking among themselves, rather than just looking at our window clerk,” he said.

“It was great,” said Bobbi Teague, a Costa Mesa resident who came Tuesday to pick up her mail. “I thought I was just coming to the post office, and I actually got a treat.”

Teague sat with her 3-year-old daughter, Alexis, for a few minutes to listen to the songs. “We were in line, and I was singing along to “Joy to the World,” Teague said.

Swagerty will play his guitar and sing again today from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday is his day off, and Friday he gets back to his real job--sorting the holiday crush of mail.