Bedford's USPS Customer Appreciation Day and Ribbon Cutting

Mike Powers, Greater Boston District Manager for USPS cut the ribbon to officially open the Bedford Post Office’s retail location at the Bedford Marketplace. He was joined by (front row, l-r) Bedford Postmaster Bill Booker, State Rep Ken Gordon, Town Manager Rick Reed, and Bedford Post Office staff including Janice Kuo, David Ferrick, and Kevin Condon; (back row, l-r) Post Office Operations Manager for Central Mass Mark Howell, Manager of Marketing for the Greater Boston District Jim Holland, and a representative from Congressman Seth Moulton’s office. Image (c) www.Bedford.tv, 2017 all rights reserved – Click to view larger image.

By Julie McCay Turner

The Bedford Post Office combined Wednesday’s Customer Appreciation Day with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its recently opened indoor retail space at Bedford Marketplace.

The ceremony was attended by United States Postal Service officials Nick Francescucci, Postmaster for the City of Boston; Mike Powers, Greater Boston District Manager; Mark Howell, Post Office Operations Manager for Central Mass; Jim Holland, Manager of Marketing for the Greater Boston District; Bedford Postmaster Bill Booker; Bedford Postal Clerks David Ferrick, Kevin Condon, and Janice Kuo; a representative from Congressman Seth Moulton’s office; State Rep Ken Gordon (D-Bedford); Town Manager Rick Reed; and a cluster of postal customers.

Remarks during the ceremony centered on how wonderful it is to have the post office finally ensconced in its new, indoor retail space, but the sentimental favorite speaker was Doris ‘Mickey’ Webber who was encouraged to attend the ceremony by Bedford’s Postmaster William Booker.

Doris ‘Mickey’ Webber with the bank her husband Reed constructed using the door to PO Box 904 from Bedford’s original post office at the corner of The Great Road and South Road. Image (c) JMcCT, 2017 all rights reserved

A resident of Bedford since she arrived at the Bedford VA as a newly-pinned registered nurse in 1947, Webber brought a pair of special artifacts to the ceremony.

The first was a souvenir captured by her late husband Reed Webber. Before there was mail delivery in Bedford, everyone had a box in the post office, then located at the corner of The Great Road at South Road. Box-holders were invited to remove their box doors when the post office moved to its then-new space. Webber used the door to Box 904 to construct a bank (complete with a still-working lock), and “I can still open it,” she exclaimed.

The second item in Webber’s White House tote bag was a framed First Day Cover featuring a Forever Stamp issued in August 2015 to honor the US Coast Guard on its 250th anniversary. The helicopter pilot pictured on the stamp is Webber’s grandson.

Bedford’s post office staff were honored in a pre-ribbon cutting ceremony, and later at a lunch provided by Red Heat Tavern.