7928-R5_NewGloucester_2020-2021_AnnualReport_Web

Wally Bradgon, New Gloucester’s Former Postmaster (Here is an article that was published several years ago by New Gloucester Resident and Sun Journal Writer Ellie Fellers) For 21 years Wally Bradgon, of the Bald Hill Road served as New Gloucester’s postmaster during a period when the town was facing rapid changes. He reminisced recently about those years from 1969 to 1991 when the post office during his tenure operated in the Lower Gloucester Village in a little white building on a sloping hillside. Those days brought change that Wally measured in many ways. First, the post office was moved from Emma Tuft’s house at the Bell Tavern to the sparkling new little white building across the street where it served the town’s growing needs until the late 1990s when it was relocated to Gilmore Road in Upper Gloucester. In 1970, says Wally, the post office contained 39 post offices boxes and one rural carrier route. “I was allowed one clerk who worked two hours in the morning and that was Alma Berry. I had to keep a complete record of everything that came in and out of the post office and weekly reports to the Section Center in Auburn. We were busy in the morning, slow at midday and busy at closing time. The hours of operation were from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They made me eventually close for lunch. I wasn’t allowed to have an air conditioner even if I bought it myself. I cleaned the post office myself for long time. Finally they let me have one to two hours of cleaning help.” The post office was a meeting place for local folks who held chats with one another while waiting for their mail to be sorted for distribution. “I had a few chairs there for the elderly customers, but was told that was not permitted. Finally they allowed me to leave a chair in the lobby,” says Wally. “I had a dog who came to work with me. I was told by a Postal Inspector the animals were not allowed in the post office. My dog was lonesome when at home. A second postal inspector came and thought the dog was nice to have at the post office. Local kids came in and got a stamp on the back of their hand. I always had a candy bowl in the lobby.” “Only once I remember calling a carrier back because of a severe snowstorm, that’s the only time the mail couldn’t get through. During an ice storm, the mail was delivered late because the mail was delayed in arriving.” The population of New Gloucester changed in the 1980s to 1990s. “I ran out of post office boxes. When I left there were 300 boxes rented and 2 ½ postal routes. There was one clerk and extra help two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon to help. All mail was canceled in New Gloucester until it was stopped then all mail was sent raw to Auburn initially where it was distributed. Now the mail is distributed through Portland.” “I was only once reported to the Postmaster General in Washington, D.C. A gentleman was asked to move his mailbox because it wasn’t in a good location. There was a big pile of horse manure in front of the mailbox and I told him we would have to stop delivery of mail unless the box was moved. I was told I should have sent him a certified letter to record the stop delivery. So I sent him a certified letter and he moved his box.” The personal part of the post office is gone now. When Wally Bragdon was in charge of New Gloucester’s Post Office, the town was small and everyone knew everyone. People would pick up mail for their neighbors and at time the postmaster would personally deliver packages to folks at Christmas time to assure they would receive their gifts in time. “It broke my heart to leave working, it bothered me for quite a while.” But, after a while Wally has found his place in the community. As active member of AMVET Post 6, his quiet leadership is extremely visible and vital to the fabric of the community.

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