Chenango Stories: Roger Barnhart

Finding a friendly face at the South New Berlin Post Office is an easy task to accomplish.
Roger Barnhart, the local postmaster, explains being a “people person” helps him assist all of his customers. “I never turn one away,” he said to a customer who came in on his lunch break Monday.
Barnhart was born and raised in the Bainbridge area and graduated from Bainbridge-Guilford in the early 1980s. Following graduation, he tried unsuccessfully to get accepted at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. “After not being accepted there, I decided to join the Marines,” he said, explaining that he was a little unsettled about what he wanted to do exactly.
Barnhart worked as an Avionics Technician in the Marine Corps from 1984 to 1988. While in active duty, he began to take part in the Toys for Tots organization; a volunteer service that Barnhart has made part of his life for the past 22 years. Jokingly, Barnhart explains that at first it was a good way he could look nice, wearing his dress blues and stand in the mall in California looking at all the pretty girls, but says ultimately he believes strongly in the service the organization provides.
Barnhart came back to the Bainbridge area after his time in the Marines ended and started working as a field service technician for a company out of Binghamton. He also became active in Boy Scouts and was leader of troop #52 in Bainbridge.
In time, Barnhart took a job, which became his career, in the postal service. Over the years, he has worked as a letter carrier in Oneonta, a clerk in Oxford and a postmaster in McDonough, before becoming the postmaster in South New Berlin. Between this time, Barnhart was married to his wife Marlene and eventually enlisted into the Marine Reserves, where he worked as a shooting instructor.
Barnhart explains he still resides in Bainbridge with his wife and two children, Jared and Lindsey. “Bainbridge is centrally located for us,” he said.
Barnhart says his love for volunteering has grown year to year and has become a big part of his life. He is currently involved in Boy Scouts and is the assistant scout master in Bainbridge. He served on the Bainbridge-Guilford school board for six years, was an elder at his church for six years and, just this year, has taken over as the local director for Toys for Tots.
Barnhart, working along with the Label Gallery, provides hundreds of families with toys for their children each year. He explains his own family has taken part in volunteer efforts, and his wife and children are there with him, gathering items off the Toys for Tots train, collecting and packaging toys. “I love it,” he said. “I get a lot out of volunteering.”
Barnhart says he wants to continue doing a good job for the postal service and maintain his volunteer efforts throughout the community.
Editor’s Note: “Chenango Stories” puts the spotlight on those people whose compelling stories you might not otherwise hear. If you know someone who is interested in telling their “Chenango Story,” contact Jill Osterhout at 337-3075 or e-mail: josterhout@evesun.com.

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