INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Pine Village is a tiny town in Warren County. It’s about 20 miles west of Lafayette and about 14 miles east of the Illinois border. With a population of about 143 residents, this burg may appear as just another quiet, rural Indiana town. However, Pine Village was once a national power in the sport of professional football. The local football team was an important Indiana forerunner to modern professional football organizations.
In 1898, Clinton Beckett, the principal of the local school introduced the sport to Pine Village. Between 1904 and 1922, Pine Village had one of the best professional football teams, the Villagers, in the nation. The team became professional in 1915, claiming state and regional championships, and in 1917 was a founder of the Indiana Football League. The team won the Independent Champion of the Midwest title in the days before the NFL organized and established a national championship. Seventeen Pine Village players went on to play with NFL teams in the early years of the league.
One of its most famous players was the legendary All-American Jim Thorpe. When Thorpe played for the Pine Village team he was an assistant football coach at Indiana University. Thorpe played in the 1915 Thanksgiving Day game against the Purdue All-Stars. Villagers won 29 to 0.
On Thursday, Aug. 11, Pine Village will add another chapter to the town’s acclaim with the grand opening of the 82nd Village Post Office (VPO) in the Greater Indiana District at 11 a.m. at the Windy Mill Restaurant, 110 E. Lafayette St., Pine Village, IN 47975. An open house will follow from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Darlene Schutter, owner of the Windy Mill, is delighted to be able to offer postal services to her customers at the bustling restaurant. “When I was a child, I used to buy stamps at our local grocery store, and when I bought the restaurant three years ago, I thought it would be really great if we could offer our customers the convenience of being able to buy stamps here,” she said. “I was just thinking of stamps, but with being a VPO, we will also have Priority Mail boxes available and they can drop off their packages here.”
The Windy Mill is open seven days a week from 5:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. and on Friday night is open for dinner from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The new postal center will be opened by Greater Indiana District Retail Manager Steffani Pieart. Several USPS and local officials will be present at the event.
In 2011, the Postal Service introduced the VPO model as an alternate retail location for postal products and services, especially in rural communities.
VPOs are operated by local businesses contracting with the Postal Service and offer a range of popular postal products and services including stamps and flat-rate packaging.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
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