The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Channing residents are giving a stamp of approval to their new post office. The subdivision's new Canada Post outlet opened Tuesday morning at the home of Barb Petrie, the new postmaster. 'It's just nice that we can continue to offer this service (in Channing),' said Petrie. Petrie and husband Jim, Flin Flon's fire chief, spent several weeks converting their attached garage into a cozy post office. Inside is a small lobby where residents stop by to check their PO boxes. Barb stands smiling at a counter, her office and sorting area visible in the background. Located at 320 Channing Drive, the post office is marked by a small overhead sign and a familiar red and gray mail box for outgoing letters and packages. In all Petrie has about 75 to 85 active PO boxes, some of which represent more than one household. Important As a Channing resident for the past eight years, Barb knows how important it is to maintain postal service in the subdivision. 'It's so much more convenient for people that don't have the availability of a vehicle,' she said. 'They can just come and do their mailing and pickup.' Channing's previous post office closed March 28 following the resignation of the postmaster, whose home housed the facility. Canada Post met with community leaders and decided to hire a new postmaster, provided one could be found along with a facility that met the required specifications. From closure to reopening was a little over five months, during which time residents of Channing as well as nearby Wally Heights were forced to pick up their mail in Flin Flon. A new location means new operating hours, with the split shift of the last post office no longer in effect. The new hours are 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays and 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays. Barb says the post office does not yet sell postage or mail out parcels, but those services will be added at some point in the future. For decades the Channing post office has served residents of the Channing and Wally Heights subdivisions, both of which lack door-to-door mail delivery. Wally Heights resident Lois (Bunny) Burke calls it a vital service. 'I think it's very important for the people who live in Channing because a lot of them are single-vehicle owners and the working partner takes the vehicle to work,' she told The Reminder previously. 'So (the other person) has no way of getting into Flin Flon to collect their mail. This (post office) is in walking distance.'
