Villages need their own post offices

Published 8:51 pm Thursday, March 17, 2011

To the editor:

I read with interest your recent article “Post Office changes on the way,” by Tracy Agnew.

As a 30-year resident of the Chuckatuck area, my family and I have enjoyed numerous benefits of our small-town post office and postmistress. When my daughter was married some years ago, the postmistress hand-stamped her wedding invitations with the “Chuckatuck” postmark.

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Although I have a downtown Suffolk office, many of my neighbors rely on the Chuckatuck Post Office for all of their postal services. If the Chuckatuck Post Office were to close, my neighbors and I would find the closest post office to be in Driver or downtown Suffolk, either one of which would be approximately a 32-mile round trip.

With the demise of the King’s Highway Bridge, which previously connected Chuckatuck to Driver, the Driver post office has become even more difficult to reach.

The villages of Whaleyville, Holland, Driver, Crittenden and Chuckatuck have historically enjoyed a post office of their own, which in each case has created a center for each village.

It is my sincere hope that the U.S. Postal Service and our congressmen and other elected officials will make every effort to keep the Chuckatuck Post Office, as well as the post offices in our other villages, in operation.

John D. Eure Jr.
Suffolk