BRAD HORN/Nevada Appeal Louie Muratore, a Carson City postal worker, poses in front of the post office on Roop Street.
Carson City postal worker Louie Muratore is in the running to become one of the next faces of the U.S. Postal Service.
The 59-year-old was nominated to become an official spokesman for the postal service at local events and for a nationwide marketing campaign.
Muratore, lead sales and service associate at the Roop Street post office, said that means his face could be on posters, the sides of mail trucks and TV commercials, all in an effort to show the personal side of the postal service.
"I'm overwhelmed," he said. "I'm going to have fun with it and be myself and do the best I can."
He represents the Nevada Sierra District, which is all of Nevada and eastern California. All 80 "ambassadors" from the districts will convene in Dallas Aug. 30 for interviews and auditions.
"From 80 it will be knocked down to nine - one for each geographic area," Muratore said. Nevada is in the Pacific area.
Members of the "fine nine" will also appear at post office openings or the first day of stamp issuance events. These ambassadors will be the post office's own celebrities.
Muratore has worked for the postal service for 39 years. He started sorting mail and unloading trucks in Garden Grove, Calif., moved to Carson City, lived in Pomona, Calif., and then moved back to Carson City in 1989.
He was nominated by Carson City Postmaster Doug Hvall and went through his first interview and audition, where he had to read a commercial script.
"We can't have a better representative for the postal service," Hvall said. "Louie brings a positive attitude every day and is a top producer that provides great service every day to customers."
"I like dealing with the public," Muratore said. "I've dealt with the public most of my career."
His life has revolved around the post office. Muratore married his wife, Kris, in the old Washington Street post office, where he had also first met her on Valentine's Day 1990.
But having your face on the side of a mail truck only comes with prestige.
"I don't know the perks yet," he said. "I get a flight to Dallas - and back, I hope."
n Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.