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Show A Centmy of Posted Memoes Dim Oiremni During 2001's anthrax scare, Postmaster General Jack Potter asked singersongwriter Carley Simon to use her song, "Let the River Run," in an inspiring television ad. She agreed and reworked her popular song for the television tele-vision advertisement. "Postal workers, along with firemen and policemen, are tremendous heroes," said Carley Simon. The United States Postal Service has a proud tradition, which extends back to the pre-Revolutionary days of our country. coun-try. No less a hero-stateman than Benjamin Franklin was the essential founding father of the Postal Service in American, and his spirit still permeates the United States Postal Service today. Over the past 228 years, hundreds of thousands of Americans have joined the ranks of postal people and have spent their lives in building the finest communications com-munications network the world has ever known. In Orem the postal people have come from every walk of life to carry the ensign of the mails and preserve the sanctity of the sealed envelope. Veterans of four American Wars, storekeepers, store-keepers, farmers, fruit growers, accountants, journalists, bakers, bak-ers, steelworkers, salesper sons, teachers, grocer clerks and office work ers have become Orem Postal People. They have mas- rl pli vprpd t.hp TT1PR- R sage of a million minds, as they speeded the chatter of children and the proclamations of presi dents to their destinations. destina-tions. In many years 10 growth rates were experienced, and Orem Postal People met the challenge chal-lenge to extend delivery service to- a burgeoning population, while learning and re-learning new route boundary ' lines and new city mail sorting schemes. Five times, they moved into new post AT jT- 1 MTcc OX office buildings, as the Orem Postal operation expanded beyond the limits of available space. Orem Postal People have participated par-ticipated in an unprecedent ed adventure m communication, communi-cation, which spans over a century. One hundred hun-dred and five years of postal service in this community have bridged three centuries cen-turies with a remarkable span. And like those intrepid people, extending back to Benjamin Franklin in 1775, who carried and deliv ered the mail in America, Orem's postal people well fit the definition of a "hero," as being "a person of distinguished distin-guished valor or fortitude, taking part in a remarkable action or event; a person per-son regarded as a model." Although there were over 69,000 post offices in the United States in the year 1890, delivery of mail to individual homes and stores was still only a dream for most Americans. The town post office was usually the central gathering place of the community, where residents came, once or twice a week to pick up their letters and bills dropped off by passing wagons and stagecoaches. But the settlers who populated the small community, known as Provo Bench, did not have the luxury of a post office. They had to travel the rocky road to Provo to get their mail. With less than 500 souls inhabiting Provo Bench in 1896, they would drop off the mail at Melissa L. McBride's small country store, where customers could get it, as they stocked up on supplies. In order for the U.S. Post Office Department to start hauling the mail to the Bench, the residents, themselves, had to bring the mail from Provo, six days a week for one full year, in order to qualify for that privilege. Sharon Postmaster Melissa McBride Although there were over 69,000 post offices operating throughout America in 1890, the 500 hardy souls living on the Provo Bench did not have a post office to call their own. In order for the U.S. Post Office Department to establish a post office in this community, the residents, themselves, were required to bring the mail from the Provo Post Office, six days a week, for one full year. It was a daunting task, that cried for the services of a hero: one who would travel the rocky road to Provo nearly every day of the year, pick up the residents' mail, and transport it back to Melissa L. McBride's country store. Stepping up to the task was a hardy resident, named James N. Anderson, who hauled the mail, without pay for a year, with the assistance of young Neils A. Jacobsen, whom he sent, when he was unable to make the trip. Between the two of them, the requirements of the U.S. Post Office Department were met, and the community commu-nity waited patiently for word from Washington, D,C. It was late in 1897, when the residents resi-dents of Provo Bench learned that approval had been granted to establish a post office in the community. No more, would someone have to make the daily trip to Provo to pick up the mail. Few were surprised, when Melissa L. McBride was appointed postmaster in January 28, 1898, and a portion of her store was designated as the new post office. In that same year Congress authorized picture post cards in the mails, which spawned a new and highly popular art form. Two years earlier, the Sharon grade school had been constructed one-half mile south of the McBride Store, taking its name from the Town of Sharon, Vermont birthplace of the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith. Local residents said, "Let's name the post office 'Sharon,' too! And so, the Sharon Post Office became this community's com-munity's first postal facility. At last, postal customers could go to their own post office to deposit out-going mail and pick up their mail from post office boxes or General Delivery. Needless to say, business at the McBride Store picked up, as well as business at the fourth-class post office, designated as "Sharon." Although her postal customers often referred to Melissa McBride as the "Postmistress," she hastened to show them her Postmaster's Commission, displayed dis-played on the wall, signed by President Grover Cleveland, appointing her "Postmaster." Meanwhile, proposals, which had been brewing in the Post Office Department for a number of years concerning con-cerning the establishment of a Rural Free Delivery system, finally gained acceptance in Washington, D.C. Voters in Rural America were asking for mail delivery to their homes, just like their fellow citizens in the country's largest cities, had been receiving since 1863. At last, On October 1, 1896, Rural Free Delivery was established, and was soon extended to hundreds, then to thousands of communities. Here, on the Provo Bench, the residents resi-dents and customers of the Sharon Post Office decided that they, also, wanted the R.F.D. mail service to their homes, and they petitioned to get it. They were even willing to give up their newly-acquired newly-acquired Sharon Post Office, in order to get mail delivered to the strange-looking rural mail boxes, erected near their homes. The proliferation of R.F.D. mail delivery deliv-ery throughout the United States, resulted in the gradual closing of many post offices. The Sharon Post Office was discontinued December 6, 1902 less than a week after R.F.D. had started in the community. I 239 N. 1800 W. Lindon Sales, Rental, Parts MACHINERY CD. and Service Call: 801-796-0999 Strength Support Solutions |