KEENE VALLEY — On Thursday, December 8, Postal and local officials will cut the ribbon on the first Village Post Office (VPO) in the Northeastern United States at McDonough’s Valley Hardware, 1901 North Main Street in Keene Valley.

A grand opening ceremony is slated for Thursday, at 11 am, to be led by the Postal Service’s Albany District Manager, Edward F. Phelan Jr.

Through the Postal Service’s VPO partnership with Valley Hardware, local residents and businesses will enjoy the convenience of a blue collection mailbox right in Keene Valley. The first day of operation of the site was Monday.

The Keene Valley Village Post Office will sell booklets of Forever stamps at face value, provide Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes and envelopes, and accept your postage-paid packages for mailing.

Hours of operation of the VPO are Monday-Friday 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM, and Saturday 9 AM to 5 PM.

In addition, secured Post Office Boxes are located at the Keene Valley VPO with mail distribution provided by a postal carrier.

The Postal Service unveiled the Village Post Office concept in the spring to be are considered in communities which have no post office or lose their Post Office. VPOs are designed for non-Postal Service establishments, such as an existing community business, town hall or government center. The VPO provides a specific range of services that include the sale of First-Class postage stamps, offering Priority Mail products and accepting mail.

The Postal Service acknowledges the contributions of the following persons who helped make the VPO in Keene Valley possible:

• The board members of Keene Community Trust: Henrietta Jordan, Tom Both, Mike Buchanan, Phyllis Buchanan, Jere Bunn, Louise Gregg, Jim Herman, Larry House, Henrietta Jordan, Paul Martin, and Dave Mason;
• The people of Keene Valley and Keene, who generously contributed the funds to build the facility;
• Bernard Webb, who designed it;
• David Thomas-Train, who coordinated many of the details of the construction;
• Marcy Neville, who assisted with planning;
• Spen Nye, head contractor;
• Supervisor Bill Ferebee and members of the Keene Town Council;
• And of course, David and Paula McDonough, who stepped up to restore an important and much needed service to the community.

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About the United States Postal Service:

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no direct support from taxpayers. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th in the 2009 Fortune 500.