'Not the same' after closure of post office

GLENVILLE -- They marched up Alplaus Avenue, preparing to occupy a most revered spot in their hamlet.

About 50 residents walked the short distance Saturday from Samuel's Cafe, where they shared food, drink and conversation, to the Alplaus post office, for the last time. It closed in January after serving their Schenectady County community since 1888, and they came to say goodbye.

"It's like a funeral," said Kathy Boyle, the last manager of the post office, which over the years operated in three locations, this one since 1944. "You feel sad, but you want to celebrate it, too."

Since 2001, Boyle ran the independent post office under a contract with the U.S. Postal Service. The federal government paid Boyle, but she paid for everything else, including rent and utilities.

She provided the services that other post offices do -- and then some. She served coffee, provided baked goods during the holidays, oversaw a lending library, took in lost dogs and served as communications central.

"When you get the job, you get the community," she said.

If she didn't see elderly residents for a couple of days, she would check to make sure they were OK. If a dog ran loose down the street, Boyle or one of her employees would bring it inside until the owner got home. If parents were late picking up their children from the bus stop during a snowstorm, the children came inside the post office and waited there.

"Everybody would come and get their mail every day and visit with their neighbors, bring their pets, bring their kids," Boyle said.

Residents protested the closing with letters, signs, petitions and the help of local officials.

But the Postal Service closed the Alplaus post office, along with 19 other contract stations, under pressure from the postal workers union to preserve jobs for its workers, Boyle said.

The fire department owns the post office building. It doesn't need the space for its firehouse next door, said Andy Gilpin, president of the Alplaus Residents Association. So the community will have to decide what to do with it. Much of the talk, he said, revolves around somehow keeping it as a gathering place.

Samuel's Cafe, which opened across the street 11/2 years ago, is the gathering place now. It has large shoes to fill. Most residents had boxes at the post office, so they had to come in to get their mail.

"I miss that feeling of community," said Manny Domingos, who has lived in Alplaus for 13 years. "It's just not the same."