Saving the post office one dollar at a time

By Colleen Smith Summers • September 28, 2009 12:21 pm
The crowd at the Deer Harbor Post Office Dedication Ceremony.
The crowd at the Deer Harbor Post Office Dedication Ceremony.

The little guys fought the big guys. And small won.

The United States Postal Service had been closing a number of rural post offices, and when the owner of the Deer Harbor Post Office building did not want to renew the lease after 2010, USPS decided to discontinue postal service in the area.

After hearing this news last fall, the residents of Deer Harbor mounted a campaign to keep the office open, but were met with refusals from USPS.

“We tried to get them to change their minds,” said Clayton Parsons, a member of the Committee to Save the Deer Harbor Post Office. “Senator Kevin Ranker even hand-delivered a letter to the regional director of USPS. But we were up against a wall.”

After several months of efforts that proved to be futile, the committee went with its last option: buy the building from long-time owner Wyndham Vacation Ownership.

“Wyndam was open to that. We were very fortunate,” Parsons said.

A purchase price of $250,000 was agreed upon and USPS promised to sign a 10-year lease. The committee spent the following months fundraising. By July 4, $130,000 in cash had been received, and the balance of $120,000 was obtained by loans from three different Deer Harbor residents. Committee member Erik Smith, who has a background in real estate, bought the building and then assigned it to the Deer Harbor Community Club, a non-profit organization, after the closing on July 9.

On Sept. 25, the success of the community effort was celebrated during a ribbon cutting ceremony and a community party. A list of all those who donated is mounted inside the building, as well as a plaque speaking to the power of community.

USPS will continue to staff the post office, and pay monthly rent, which will cover the loans taken out. After it is paid off, the money will go towards the Deer Harbor Community Club.

The celebration on Sept. 25 marked the beginning of a new era for the post office, which has served the community since 1893.

Postmaster Pat Flores said she was “overwhelmed by the community generosity” of raising so much money so quickly.