DeBorgia gets a post office

DEBORGIA – Residents of DeBorgia and Haugan will not have to drive all the way to St. Regis for their mail after a local woman took on the responsibility of operating a post office after a brief period of uncertainty regarding the future of postal services in the area.

Bonnie Raucher of DeBorgia will be the new postmaster for the area after she took up the contract vacated after the death of Russ Bogard. Raucher said she decided to take on the job to help out the community and allow herself to spend more time at home.

“I used to work road construction and I was never home,” Raucher said. “I want to be home and help out the people in the community.”

According to Raucher, the motivation behind wanting to become a postmaster was a combination of things. She said a desire to assist people who might be unable to travel and her own desire to not have to drive to St. Regis for mail were what drove her.

“I didn’t want people to have to drive all the way over there and I didn’t want to drive all the way over there,” Raucher said. “There are a lot of elderly people here who don’t drive. We have handicapped people in this community who can’t drive. I just wanted to help out the community.”

Raucher said one doesn’t just become a postmaster. She had to go through extensive training before the United States Postal Service would grant her a contract.

“It’s been a long process,” Raucher said. “I had to take 40 hours of training in St. Regis. There is a lot of things you have to know about. It’s a learning process on a daily basis.”

According to United States Postal Service Spokesman Ernie Swanson, both communities had what they refer to as a “community post office,” which is different from a normal facility in that they operate out of an existing business and offer different services and hours.

Swanson said after the death of the former postmaster in DeBorgia and the decision by the postmaster in Haugan not to renew the USPS contract, the situation in the area was in limbo.

“We had to solicit for a new contract,” Swanson said. “Because the two communities are so close to each other, we decided to replace just one of them and that happened to be the one in DeBorgia. It is in a business and will function as the post office. Customers in both places will now be able to pick up their mail there.”

Swanson said, while the facility is not fully operational yet offering retail services like selling stamps and packaging materials, it would be in coming weeks.

“All the things you can do in a conventional post office and that had been available previously will be available at the one in DeBorgia,” Swanson said. “We are confident it will be up and running soon.”