RUMFORD CENTER – And then there was one.
The tiny community post office located in a corner of Dino’s Pizza and Italian Sandwich Shop is set to close at the end of the month. With its closure on Oct. 29, the town of Rumford will have one remaining post office, the main building downtown.
And with the closing, the 04278 ZIP code will become history, just as 04279 became history in 1998 when the tiny post office in Rumford Point closed.
Theresa and Victor Richard, owners of the pizza shop, have contracted with the U.S. Postal Service to provide the small post office for the village’s residents for 10 years.
“We’ve done it for $8,400 a year. No benefits, no help. It’s costing us more than we’re making working 44 hours a week,” said Theresa Richard on Tuesday.
Victor said Theresa hasn’t taken a day off in 10 years, and he has taken only a half-day.
“We’re stuck. There’s just him and I,” said Theresa.
With the couple no longer providing postal services, Theresa said they could close the restaurant for a week and just take off.
The two have operated the restaurant for 27 years. They plan to continue.
Having a post office in a restaurant/convenience store that is open six days a week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., has been a great advantage to the 85 households that have post office boxes there.
Lynn Petrie has been picking up her mail at Dino’s for eight years.
“It’s very sad and very convenient. It’s a nice mom-and-pop place. I get to stop in and chat. But we’re happy for Theresa and Victor,” said Petrie as she prepared to change her address.
She, along with many others in the village, will receive their mail from a rural carrier based at the Rumford Post Office. Some will get boxes in the post office in neighboring Hanover; a few will rent boxes at the Rumford Post Office.
Rumford Postmaster Jim Sylvain said adding the Rumford Center households won’t affect the Rumford Post Office because he already serves 3,500 addresses. The mail for Rumford Center residents has always been delivered to the Rumford Post Office before it’s taken to Rumford Center, he said.
A group of villagers tried to find another person or business to contract with the Postal Service, but they came up empty, Sylvain said.
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