SHUTESBURY — Around the holidays each year, Carla Footit remembers her mother, the town’s postmaster for 34 years, dealing with a flurry of activity right up until Christmas Eve.
That’s when Mary Dihlmann would call some residents to let them know that their packages, likely containing last-minute presents that needed to be wrapped, had arrived and were ready to be picked up at the 8 Wendell Road site. She instructed these customers to come to the main door of her home, located within the same building as the U.S. Post Office.
“We would never set up our Christmas tree until that evening because my Mom was so exhausted,” Footit recalled.
The Post Office at that time was carved out of Dihlmann’s General Store, where hot chocolate would be served to patrons on the coldest days and which became a hub of activity for visitors each Memorial Day weekend. That’s when Lake Wyola came alive for the season and people stopped by to get flashlights, rope and other necessities.
“All the wonderful things people needed,” Footit said.
Now, some 60 years later, Footit, who said she learned hard work as a child by making sure the floors were mopped and cleaned late on Saturday nights, drops by to get her mail and also interact with staff.
These memories, which continue to come alive in the space, may be lost if the U.S. Postal Service follows through with its decision to suspend operations in Shutesbury at the close of business on June 6.
“I come in and still feel my mother’s spirit in here,” Footit said, looking around at the mix of historic and newer Post Office boxes lining the walls of the main lobby, before dialing the combination of her box that she long ago memorized and pulling out her mail.
Like many Shutesbury residents, Footit found out about the decision from a letter taped to the entry door window, a decision that transfers all business, including the Post Office boxes, to the Leverett Post Office. The letter, from Matthew Weir, manager of Post Office operations, states that the decision was made because postal officials were unable to renew the lease on the building that expired on April 30, 2024.
Already, town officials have begun outreach to the community, with a page on the town website and distribution of community impact statements at Annual Town Meeting that people can use to convey their comments.
There have also been conversations with U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and the American Postal Workers Union about preserving the Post Office for ZIP code 01072.
What is unclear is if the lack of a lease is being used as an excuse or whether this is a real problem, according to Town Administrator Hayley Bolton. But for now, the advocacy through the community impact statements is critical.
“I can speak to how vital the service is for local residents — how it’s a community gathering space, and how its loss would adversely affect residents’ ability to receive communication, legal notices, prescription deliveries and notices from the town,” Bolton said.
Bolton said there are questions about whether the decision violates Title 29, Section 101 of U.S. code, which requires a 60-day notice to the town and a mandatory appeals process, which appear to have been bypassed.
Many of those who are longtime residents have Post Office boxes because it’s unsafe for them to have mailboxes at the end of their driveways, or because they are in a remote area of town. The boxes are located both inside the building, as well as outside and undercover next to the small parking lot.
Michele Regan-Ladd, who dropped in Tuesday afternoon, said she’s had a box since the mid-1980s.
“It’s sad,” Regan-Ladd said. “I come here every day, also talk to the postal worker. It’s just part of the routine.”
If Regan-Ladd continues to have a Post Office box, she said she dreads the possible daily drive to Leverett.
Ironically, the Leverett Post Office was briefly on the chopping block in early 2011, but that decision was reversed prior to a planned community meeting. At that time, Leverett residents were being told their service would be shifted to Sunderland.
Although resident Holly Armitage said she’s “very upset” over the news, she added that this is not unexpected, as there have been recent changes in how mail is delivered, with the mail coming from Amherst, rather than being processed in town.
“They didn’t seem to deliver through long chunks of winter weather,” Armitage said. She said the explanation was the risky conditions for drivers and vehicles.
Armitage said she is concerned that the looming closure may have been a cost-savings decision by the postmaster general for the United States that will deprive rural residents something they should be guaranteed as Americans.
“I don’t think the USPS should be a for-profit organization,” Armitage said. “It’s a service to the United States and they shouldn’t take that away from us.”
“As a senior citizen, this will be a hardship,” said resident Mary David, who was also there to get mail inside. “It is going to be a significant burden on the senior population.”
But mail remains important for all generations.
Tim Johnson, who recently moved to Shutesbury from New Jersey, works from home on Leverett Road, about a mile away. The convenience of the Post Office and being able to pick up packages is priceless, especially this past winter given the amount of snow.
“It’s a bummer,” Johnson said. “It’s been very easy to come here to pick up mail, especially during the wintertime.”
It’s also the physical space that people will miss. The Post Office is in a building with rental units these days, and Town Hall, the Shutesbury Community Church and Old Town Hall all help make up the town center.
Former Town Clerk Leslie Bracebridge, who serves on the Historical Commission, has an album filled with information about Dihlmann’s General Store, showing the building with a small service station where people could fill up their gas tanks.
“I’m sad, and I think that’s shared,” Bracebridge said.
Bracebridge noted that while Shutesbury’s Post Office may not be the busiest in existence, it gets a fair share of other business, such as those who commute through the town center, many heading to the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus from points to the east.
Mentioning concern for senior citizens and people with disabilities, Bolton noted the anticipation is that not having a Post Office will prove especially problematic during the winter. While the Leverett Post Office is less than 6 miles away, getting there means heading down the S-curves.
“They feel like it’s incredibly unfair to make that commute when others don’t have to,” Bolton said.
Employees at Town Hall will also be affected. “This will have a real tangible impact on town operations,” Bolton said.
While the Post Office has moved before, notably when Mary Dihlmann began her tenure in 1954, it’s uncertain whether there are other options for where it could be located.
The nearby M.N. Spear Memorial Library has been vacant since late last year when the new Shutesbury Public Library opened, though that doesn’t have running water, and even after bringing it up to code, it may be insufficient in size for the needs.
Whatever happens going forward, Bolton said this will not make life easier for residents.
“It’s just a burden for people,” Bolton said.
