Bangor’s 28th postmaster received his official stamp of approval Thursday during a swearing-in ceremony in the mail room of the Bangor Post Office, located at the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building.

Surrounded by large, canvas mail carts and mail-sorting equipment, Postmaster Steven Hathaway said he never thought that when he started work at the post office in 1974 as a “90-day, temporary, casual mail handler” that he would be named postmaster.

Hathaway said he was “extremely proud” to have been appointed to the position. His top responsibilities as postmaster, Hathaway said, are to provide the best service possible to people in the community and to work with the 291 employees of the post office.

“You are the Bangor Post Office — not me,” Hathaway told the postal workers, later adding, “I appreciate your effort and dedication to duty, and I’m sure the local community does.”

More than 100 guests, including postal customers, area postmasters, and postal employees, attended the ceremony.

Hathaway was sworn into his new office by Kenneth N. Andre, management sectional center manager/postmaster of Portland, while his wife, Shirley, held the Bible on which he swore to uphold postal regulations and the U.S. Constitution.

Andre, a former Bangor postmaster, said the ceremony was “part of a historical tradition in the U.S. Postal Service.”

“The postmaster is the top-ranking federal official in many of our communities,” said Andre. “And one thing we should all remember is that few people are privileged to hold the position of postmaster.”

After an invocation by the Rev. Rick Libby of the Full Gospel Assembly Church, Presque Isle, Hathaway was offered good wishes from Bangor City Manager Ed Barrett.

Ed Armstrong, co-chairman of the regional Postal Customer Council, commented that he had observed Hathaway’s attitude and dedication and predicted that the new postmaster would be “a good steward” of the Bangor Post Office.

Hathaway, 42, of Bangor replaces Barbara Ward, who became MSC manager in Montgomery, Ala., after a reorganization took place last September at the Bangor facility. The new postmaster was formerly the director of human resources and has worked more than 14 years in Bangor.

After the ceremony, Hathaway said he didn’t think the reorganization had affected local service. He said he had received 11 complaints since he assumed the job in December, which were “not many” considering that the Bangor Post Office handles 1 million pieces of mail each week.

The new postmaster said that by 1992, the post office would have a new “mail factory” to process mail at a new location in Bangor, while window and box service would remain at the downtown location in the federal building.