Chelsea Burnette
Cordele Dispatch
Cordele —
CORDELE — She serves over 300 cups of coffee a day. Because of her cheerful attitude, Mary Fletcher has been nominated as Pilot Travel Center’s ‘Best Coffee Host in America’.
Ricky Smith, a regular customer at the local Pilot, nominated Fletcher. “She is such a great ambassador for Cordele,” he says. “We get a lot of interstate travelers who come in Pilot. If they talk to Mary a little bit, they leave with an awesome impression of Cordele.
“She is such a happy and cheerful person,” Smith says. “She just makes my day. If you can start your day with a cup of coffee and Mary Fletcher, it is a great day.”
Continuing Smith says, “I have been in a few Pilots and I have no doubt in my mind that we have the ‘best coffee host.’ We just need to get people to vote for her.”
If Mary finishes as one of the top 3 coffee hosts, Smith will receive free coffee for a year because he nominated her.
The voting period for the contest begins Aug. 1 and continues through Aug. 31. Anyone can vote for Mary at www.facebook.com/pilotcareers.
“I sure would appreciate your vote online,” Fletcher says.
If she wins, she will receive a 5-day paid vacation, 500 Top Gun Points, special recognition at the 2011 general managers meeting, and a special uniform shirt displaying her ‘Best Coffee Host’ status.
Fletcher, who helped open the Pilot Travel Center in ‘97, has been a coffee host there for five years. “I have many regular customers,” Fletcher says, with whom she is on a first name basis.
When she arrives at work at 4 a.m., Mary says she rinses out all the pots and makes fresh coffee every morning for her valued customers.
Fletcher’s hard work and contagious smile have carried her a long way to becoming well-known in the area. She always receives 100 on her evaluation by mystery shoppers, she says.
One such shopper is quoted as saying, “I observed Mary in the coffee area cleaning, brewing coffee, greeting and assisting customers, and suggestive selling during my visit.”
She also said the coffee area was very clean, free of debris and all the products/condiments were available for use and fully stocked.
“She’s awesome,” says Ateet Panjwani, manager at the Pilot. “She makes my job a lot easier. She is always smiling.”
Panjwani said the fact that the Pilot has a coffee host is what differentiates it from all other gas stations. He says it is a very important piece to the store.
Besides the 14 years she lived in Atlanta, Fletcher has been a resident of Cordele all her life. “I moved back in ‘95,” she says. “I am one of ten children. My parents, who are now deceased, had eight girls and two boys.” Fletcher has a son, Loroderick Smith, who lives in Riverdale and is a truck driver.
She enjoys reading, shopping, and playing with her two puppies, Chico and Deuce. “I love to watch Oprah Winfrey,” she says. “I have to watch her every day at 4 p.m.” She is a member of the New William Grove Baptist Church.
Fletcher says, “I plan on retiring from here.”
Everyone in the community is encouraged to vote for this sweet, dedicated lady online to make her America’s “best coffee host.”
