Kewanna residents are feeling hopeful this week after the town's post office reopened.
The Kewanna Post Office's doors shut down operation on and off for the past year in Kewanna due to building conditions. With most Kewanna residents only able to get their mail at a P.O. Boxs located inside of the Kewanna Post Office, the shut-down of the building meant locals had to drive to Rochester to get their mail. The driving taking more than a half-hour round trip just for people to get their mail.
For residents like Renee Mersch, the Kewanna Post Office closing meant she would only get her mail once a week. Mersch has lived in Kewanna for the past eight years and said the closing has been a huge inconvenience when important or urgent mail comes and she isn't able to see it right away.
Another Kewanna resident, Art Caschetta, says he recently moved his 73-year-old mother from Chicago to Kewanna one year prior as a way for her to be closer to family. Receiving mail in a timely fashion for his mother quickly became a nightmare for Caschetta, as he had to scramble to figure out how his mother could get her monthly medications through the mail as she normally had before.
"We had to travel to Rochester often to pick up her mail and it was a huge pain," Caschetta said. "Because of her medication and the inconvenience of not having it mailed to Kewanna, we had everything transferred to our mailbox for her medications and everything else that was important that she needed right away. Being able to get mail again in town has been a great improvement. We hope it stays."
The post office is now open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and on Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

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