For more than a century, Rector residents have picked up their parcels and letters from a small room in a private home along Route 381 in Ligonier Township. But starting at the end of the month, more than 100 of them will have to drive five miles farther to get their mail when the U.S. Postal Service moves out of that house near Jacob Miller Road. "The lease for our postal facility in Rector has been terminated by the landlord," a letter dated July 27 to postal customers states. "Beginning Monday, Aug. 29, we will temporarily move our retail operations to the Laughlintown Post Office. .... We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience during this transitional period." Messages left for postal service officials seeking further comment on the closing were not returned Tuesday. Yet many residents in the rural village are wondering what "temporarily" means. Patrick Flaherty, owner of the nearby Mountain Market, is particularly curious. Flaherty has had open arms for the post office since he cleared 300 square feet of space inside his general store and gas station along Linn Run Road, just off Route 381. "Since I have the only commercial property in Rector, I thought it made sense," he said, noting that he wrote to the postal service in February with an offer to modify his store to suit or build a new post office on adjacent property. Both lease options would have provided parking and handicapped accessibility -- something the current facility has never had. Patrons now park in the yard or along Route 381, which has limited roadside space, and must climb a few stairs to the post office's porch. But Flaherty's offer was initially rejected. "They said, 'thanks, but no thanks,'" he said. Then, in May, Flaherty was contacted by postal service officials who had reconsidered, he said. "They said they were interested in renting space. We talked about renovations and we agreed on everything, the rent, the amount of space," he said. "So I ripped out my kitchen and freezer and pushed all my stock into other areas and had the space all ready." Then, in June, "I heard that they were given a two-month extension. But I was assured that they were still coming, and that they'd be in by the end of August," he said. However, with the closing looming, Flaherty said he still has no idea whether he'll have a post office tenant or not. "No one has told me that they're not coming, but it's nearly the end of August, and I still can't get an answer," he said. "I'm not very happy, no. I thought I was due a little more courtesy than this." Residents aren't real happy, either. "This came out of the blue," said David Kilgore, who lives along Linn Run Road with his wife, Jane, and likes the idea of moving the post office into the store. "It just seems like the logical thing to do," he said. "If not for the parking alone." The Kilgores said it would also lessen the burden on residents who depend on the neighborhood facility. Rector's post office serves about 220 customers -- 105 of whom still come in to pick up their mail, said Nancy Kiser, postmaster replacement there. "Some of them are pretty upset. There are a lot of elderly people, and it will be hard for them," Kiser admitted, noting many don't like traveling Route 30. She also noted that a portion of Route 381 that leads to the highway is prone to flooding during heavy rains. Even the property owner who is evicting the post office agrees that moving it into the store would be a fitting solution to keep a post office in the village. But Ida Tenney said she is also in the dark about her former employer's plans. "It's awful. They won't tell us anything," said Tenney, 80, who worked for the postal service for 27 years and served the last seven of those years as postmaster in the house where she still lives. Her daughter, Eleanor Pennington, took her place as postmaster, but was put on extended leave last week. "She's very upset," said Tenney, declining to discuss that issue. Tenney had her attorney notify the postal service in January that it had six months to vacate the property. "She didn't want to tie the property up for 20 years," said her son, Albert Tenney. The postal service "only paid $150 a month and she asked for a raise to cover rising electricity costs," he added. "They told her they would give her $50 more a month, but she would have to pay for the garbage collection. Now, all we get is the run-around. It's a shame that a government agency runs like that." Flaherty said he is equally flabbergasted, but said his offer still stands. The postal service is "welcome next month, or even next year," he said. Flaherty and the Kilgores said they have contacted several state and federal lawmakers about their plight, including U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and state Rep. Jess Stairs. "But so far, we haven't heard back from any of them," Jane Kilgore said, adding that she and her husband are joining with friends and neighbors in an attempt to organize and circulate a petition to submit to the postal service to keep a facility in Rector. "I guess we're a sort of a self-appointed, unofficial committee," she said.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---