Marsha C. Salett
Renée described getting the June 2023 issue of Bird Observer to the USPS distribution center: “Luckily, we fit everything in and didn’t need to make two trips (or buy a bigger car).” Photograph by David Cooper.
There are three components—editorial, production, and distribution—in publishing a hard-copy issue of Bird Observer. The editorial staff includes more than a dozen people. Two production staffers work with the printer’s crew. Mailing 700 copies of each issue of the journal, with data supplied by the subscription manager, has been the job of one indispensable person—Renée LaFontaine. When I would receive her email stating that the latest issue had gone to the post office, only then could I relax and consider it finished. Since I have been editor, she has never missed or been late with an issue.
When I asked her how she became involved with the journal, Renée said,
I vaguely remember Marj Rines trying to talk me into volunteering for some Bird Observer position and I decided that I could manage the mailing. Marj has helped me with the mailing for at least a few hours each issue until recently, and Bob Stymeist was always willing to help when he was in town. First John Marsh and later Lynette Leka made the job easy for me by organizing all the data into tables, spreadsheets, etc. that I could use quickly to fill out the postal forms.
Renée took over the mailing position in October 2004, almost 20 years ago. Let us do the math. Bird Observer is published six times a year, so Renée has handled about 4,200 copies of the journal per year. She has done the mailing for almost 19 years, processing and mailing close to 79,000 individual copies using the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) bulk mailing service. Until Bird Observer officially went online at www.birdobserver.org, this was the only way of distributing the journal.
Bulk mailing is not nearly as simple as affixing a stamp and address label to a piece of mail and taking it your local post office. For every issue, all pieces of mail must be sorted, labeled, bundled, and bagged according to USPS regulations and procedures and then delivered to the Waltham Distribution Center in mail trays, tubs, or sacks supplied by the USPS. Forms need to be filled out exactly, weights and rates calculated correctly. If there is an error, USPS may reject the entire mailing. Renée created a seven-page instruction sheet to describe the process for Bird Observer.
It takes a dedicated person like Renée with a special set of organizational skills and patience to handle the job of mailing Bird Observer to subscribers throughout the entire United States, Canada, and a few other countries. With admiration and gratitude, I—along with the entire Bird Observer Board of Directors and staff—want to thank her for her vital role in making the journal possible and wish her the best as she retires from her volunteer responsibilities.
Below, two of our colleagues express their appreciation for Renée.
In the six years that I have worked closely with Renée, as she liaised with the United States Postal Service and carried out the Herculean tasks for getting 700 copies of each issue in the mail, I could not have asked for a better friend and colleague. Her readiness to help under any circumstance, her nearly instant follow-through, and her attention to organization and detail have been such a help and so greatly appreciated. In all this time we have met in person only once, but the quantity and quality of our email communication has made me feel close, and it is something I will miss going forward.
Lynette Leka
Over the years—including the first issue of Bird Observer—I worked with many volunteers to help with mailing the Bird Observer issues to our subscribers. I helped Herman d’Entremont for the first issue in February 1973, when we had to lick the labels. Renée was among the most congenial and easygoing people I worked with. She was unflappable and never once complained if I could not join her for the mailings, as happened too often in recent years when I spent more time in Vermont. She was exceedingly conscientious. Renée cares deeply about Bird Observer, something she shares with many staff. I will miss her sumptuous cookies waiting for me every time I arrived to help. But I will continue to enjoy her birding company when we bird our favorite local haunts. Thank you, Renée, for all your years committing your time to one of the best regional birding journals in the country!
Robert H. Stymeist