A Close- Up Look At People Who Matter : Postal Official Mounts Effort to Assist Kids

While handling complaints about wet mail, missed deliveries and stamp designs, Stacia L. Crane relieves stress by looking through a kaleidoscope or at her picture of Rocko, her 25-year-old quarter horse.

“People are yelling at you, but you can’t take it personally,” said Crane, who for the past seven years has been the first and only manager of consumer affairs for the vast Van Nuys District of the United States Postal Service.

“I’m proud of where I work,” Crane said. “I have to show the human side of the postal service.”

Crane was one of a dozen postal workers recognized recently by the postmaster general in Washington for heroism, hard work and contributions to the community. The Simi Valley resident said she was inspired to pursue the career by her mother, a postal manager, and the letter carrier in the Van Nuys neighborhood where Crane grew up.

On the job, Crane handles a wide variety of crises. One man accused postal workers of stealing $30,000 in negotiable bonds he thought he had accidentally dropped into a mailbox. On the phone, Crane talked him through a search of his office and helped him find them.

Crane also gives demonstrations to the public on how to avoid mail fraud schemes.

In the corner of her office sit items collected from people conned by scam artists peddling their wares through the mail. There’s the “solar-powered clothes dryer,” just an old wash line, and the “universal coat hanger,” a big screw.

As much as Crane is devoted to her job, she also loves horses and kids.

Crane is the founder of the Sunset Equestrian Team, based at the Osborne Riding Stables in Lake View Terrace. The team is composed of about 45 children ages 8 to 18 who perform precision drilling on horseback under quasi-military guidelines, which include assigning ranks, saluting officers and maintaining discipline.

Crane leads the youngsters while astride Rocko, an animal so used to the routine that he once led a drill without waiting for her.

“I’ve watched it change a lot of kids’ lives,” Crane said about Sunset Equestrians, whose riders chose the name because they practice their drills at sunset.

One boy who joined six years ago was so introverted that he would not speak in school. Now he’s 14 and a leader who looks out for the others, Crane said. For example, he stood up for a younger girl who was being harassed at a game booth during a fund-raiser in Sunland.

“We all watch out for each other,” Crane said. “I’m so proud of him.”

Another rider who underwent a dramatic change was a shy girl who was following her twin sister into involvement with gangs.

Crane was not able to help the twin, who ran away, but it was because of the equestrian team that the girl came out of her shell and stopped following her sister, Crane said.

“The quiet one learned to talk and learned she didn’t have to live through another,” Crane said.

The equestrian team also takes in youths referred from the Los Angeles Police Department’s anti-gang Jeopardy program, which diverts at-risk youth into programs that meet their interests.

“I’m not going to turn them into professional equestrians,” said Crane, who also takes the Sunset Equestrians on camping trips and to amusement parks such as Six Flags Magic Mountain and Disneyland. “I want them to be well-rounded people.”

While teaching them sportsmanship, Crane also strives to teach them to keep improving.

“I expect each one of my students to surpass me,” Crane said. “That’s a teacher’s dream. Sometimes they’ll tease me and say to me, ‘When I get older, I’m going to take over.’ Good.”