It's likely you'll see a new smiling face at the Marlinton Post Office next time you drop off a letter or check your box.

Janice Goode, of Hillsboro, was recently promoted to postmaster at the facility after Donna Cooke retired earlier this year.

Goode said she's been involved with the USPS since 1983. She started as a postmaster relief in Hillsboro and worked there through 2007. According to Goode, a postmaster relief is a part-time, non-career position. Later, Goode became postmaster at the Dunmore location in 2007.

Goode also served as officer-in-charge in Hillsboro and Marlinton before her new appointment. According to Goode, learning the different aspects of the office has been the only challenge so far, but she said she's already had a chance to get used to her new responsibilities, and she now oversees six employees.

Goode said there's a big difference between working at an urban postal facility in comparison to a office like Marlinton. She said oversight is minimal and her supervisors don't come out to Marlinton very often.

“It's a lot different because we're pretty much out here on our own. Our manager is clear down in Bluefield,” explained Goode.

Goode said she enjoys working for the Postal Service. She sees old classmates and friends all the time, but she especially likes the building in Marlinton. She's surrounded by more than just mail — Goode has poignant reminders of her family and home all around her.

“It's a really neat old building,” she said. “I love the two murals in the lobby. I brought my husband in here one night, when they had the Relay for Life. I said, 'I want to show you something.' I brought him in and showed him the murals. We stood there looking at it and I thought to myself 'hey, that's the mill at Mill Point.' And the one of the tannery — my dad worked there for years before it closed.”