by Karen Blake

     Residents of the small hamlet of Versailles are surprised and happy at the news they will be getting mail service back in their community.

     David Patterson, director of the WNY Postal Service, called community spokesperson Carl Forbes on Wednesday morning, March 17, saying the Postal Service will be leasing a modular unit to serve as a temporary post office.

     Patterson said, “It would take a few weeks to get it there, but it should be up and running by April 17 at the latest.”

     Patterson’s announcement came just two days after he and other postal officials attended a community meeting in Versailles where they and representatives of Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Chuck Schumer heard from over 100 people upset they had not had local mail service in over two months since the Versailles Post Office burnt in January.

     Perrysburg Town Supervisor Myrton Sprague said the news “sounds pretty good,” commenting it has been “quite an inconvenience” for Versailles residents to have to make a 10-mile round trip to the nearest post office in the Village of Perrysburg to collect their mail and get services, especially in bad weather.

     Irene Jimerson, who along with Evelyn Hubacher circulated petitions and organized the meeting, said they started talking about what to do while serving sandwiches and coffee to firefighters the morning of the fire.

     She said everyone is just thrilled and that the decision was made so quickly after the meeting. Jimerson and others credited “our political advocates,” saying “we are very grateful to them.” Forbes thanked everyone, including the Seneca Nation, “whose efforts helped get our post office back.”

     Jimerson said this was just a little example of how when everyone works together, “anything is possible,” stating the post office was a center point in the close-knit community.

     The postal service indicated plans to rebuild a permanent post office building.