Blue River Post Office Gets a Grand Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Blue River has come a long way since the Holiday Farm Fire last September, and things are really starting to look better with a lot of cleaning up being completed and construction starting on many properties around town. A major milestone for the community has been getting our Post Office back, on the same site as the building that was entirely destroyed on Labor Day 2020.
On June 2nd, locals joined government officials and dignitaries including Lane County Commissioner Heather Buch, Congressman Peter DeFazio, and Oregon State Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley for the official opening of the new building which had already been operational and serving the local community for about a month.
The dedication ceremony was initially planned for early May but had to be delayed due to increased COVID restrictions. Social distancing precautions were still observed, but with speeches and proceedings mostly happening outdoors on a very sunny day, everyone had a good – and safe – time marking the occasion.
Portland District Manager for the Postal Service, William Schwartz, says the wildfires had a devastating impact and the Postal Service is dedicated to providing mail service to hard-hit communities, such as Blue River, as quickly and conveniently as possible. And indeed it is impressive how quickly these shiny new facilities were put in place.
Our thanks go to all the dedicated U.S. Postal Service staff, who have worked so hard to maintain a service for displaced residents throughout these past nine months. And a very special thank-you to our own Blue River Postmaster extraordinaire, Henry who, post-fire, served our community when we were collecting our mail at Springfield, then at Walterville, before running the temporary facilities at the McKenzie River Community School. It sure feels good to see him back home in our new Post Office building, and to get our PO box keys again! Hopefully, this is the start of many other steps towards building back better here in the McKenzie Valley.
