Tiller residents rally to keep post office open

TILLER, Ore. - Members of the small community of Tiller in the remote 
southeastern corner of Douglas County are worried that their post office will
be closed and they don't want that to happen.

The Tiller facility is on a list of possible closures, and Saturday morning,
residents rallied in front of the post office building along the
Tiller Trail Highway to show their support for keeping the facility open.

Organizers say some residents in the remote area, already have to come  
long distances to get their mail, and if the Tiller office closed, they would
have to drive all the way to Days Creek.

"I'm just real concerned about this post office being closed because the 
people don't live, a lot of them  right here in the community," said Diana 
Farris, a former Postmaster at Tiller.  "Some of them are  20 miles out and 
if we have to add another 18 to their 20 miles to get to a post office 
it's going to be a hardship on people."

Tiller resident Paula Lewis says closing the small post offices is such a 
small part of the postal budget, she thinks there are better options.

"I think there has to be a lot of options besides closing rural post offices.  
There's other things they could do to cut costs whether it's raising postal 
rates a little bit. I'd be more than happy to pay a few more cents and not 
have to drive to Days Creek or Canyonville," said Lewis.

The supporters of the post office say they know it's an uphill battle to keep
it open, but they they do have until May before the final decisions will be
made and they plan to keep the pressure on their elected officials.

Sunday was the last day to submit comments on the possible closures.

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