CHERRY GROVE - The current lease on the post office building in Cherry Grove is coming to an end, and the Cherry Grove Ag Society is offering a solution to keep the post office in town.
The ag society is fundraising to renovate a section of the Cherry Grove Hall to accommodate the post office.
Barry Machan, President of the Cheery Grove Ag Society, said the main reason they suggested the hall was to keep the post office within the community.
“Otherwise, they would have given us the super mailboxes, or tried to move our postal mail to Cold Lake,” said Machan.
He said the outdoor super mailboxes lack the same security as an actual post office, and moving the service to Cold Lake would be an inconvenience for the community.
“[Another] reason is that it gives the hall a little more use. We’re in a great centralized area . . . and everybody stops by the post office – you always run into somebody you know. It’s a social hub and we want to keep that going.”
Machan explained they do not receive any financial support from the MD of Bonnyville or Canada Post, so they are steering their fundraising efforts towards paying for the renovations themselves.
“All of our events, like our Easter breakfast, our upcoming meet and greet dessert auction on May 3, and all the summer events like the lawn tractor races, the proceeds will go towards helping with the post office.”
Machan said they will receive a small monthly rental fee from Canada Post, and they are hoping to get the post office moved over by September.
“Right now, the post office has no bathroom, so the worker must close the whole post office and find a bathroom elsewhere. The hall already has bathrooms, so that’s a big sell for the hall. We also already have the security system, the cameras, the alarms, and the insurance is already covered under our ag society. It just makes sense.”
Machan sees an opportunity to eventually install something like a coffee vending machine, so the community has a place to sit and visit over a beverage.
“Everyone ends up standing in line and chatting at the post office, so why not have somewhere you can sit down, grab a cup of coffee, and carry on the conversation?”
