Postbox 20 years in the making

By Darryl Whitecross

Our corps has its first letterbox.

It may not be big in the overall scheme of things but it’s an installation that has been 20 years in the making.

Australia Post likes post boxes to be installed on “the fence line” of a property, particularly homes, but ours has received the stamp (pardon the pun) of approval from “our” postie to be positioned well inside the gate.

Our corps officer and corps administration assistant sought the input of the Postal Delivery Officer (the full title of the humble postie) and, on the back of that, it has been installed just outside the main entry to our worship centre – under the porte cochere.

The postie was reportedly excited that his opinion would be sought on what he believed the corps facility “needed” in a letterbox and where it would be best placed.

The letterbox is to be used by tenants that rent space on the site including the family store.

It’s been in place for a few weeks and continues to be a valuable additional asset to corpslife.

Corps officer, Major Ian Channell said that, although the letterbox was 20 years in the making, it took only about 20 minutes to put in place.

Major Ian said the closure of the Local Post Office at nearby Stafford City Shopping Centre, where the corps has held a post box since it opened in 2004, meant "we needed to make alternative arrangements".

He said that, since the LPO closed "our" mail – parcels and letters – has been delivered to the site but, as the office is not open on Mondays and Fridays, "we needed a solution for the mail" so mail was not left at the door – hence the letterbox.

"It also means our tenants can collect their own mail so we don’t have to deliver it (as they have a code for the letterbox)," Major Ian said.