CAPE GAZETTE, Friday, September 26 - October 2, 1997 - 17
Long Neck Post Office [ ranch moves to Neighborhood Store
By Rosanne Pack
In Long Neck, some residents were con-
cerned that their post office branch had
gone to the dead letter file, never to be seen
again; however, the mail will continue to go
through, just from a different location.
The Long Neck branch of the Millsboro
Post Office recently relocated to Your
Neighborhood Store on Massey's Landing
Road, and it will operate year-round. Store
owner David Perry felt that his complex,
which contains the convenience store, a bait
and tackle shop, and Creamy Cone ice
cream shop was an ideal location for the
small post office.
A branch office such as the one in Long
Neck handles only out-going mail, but most
other postal needs can be met there.
Millsboro Postmaster Marilyn Benson
said, "Stamps, money orders, priority mail,
all of those can be taken care of in Long
Neck. We don't deliver mail there; there are
no post office boxes.
"The previous contractor gave the branch
office up, so we put out a bid notice and the
owner of Your Neighborhood Store entered
a bid. I passed all the information on to the
office in Philadelphia that handles that
process and the Massey's Landing Road lo-
cation was chosen."
Benson said that the bidding consists of
the prospective post office contractor sub-
mitting an amount that seems necessary and
fair for providing the postal service with lo-
cation and staff for a branch office. In his
case, Perry said the bid was based primarily
on costs of preparing the post office counter
area and the salary for staff.
"We gave them a bid for how much we
wanted to run it for them, and it basically
came down to labor," Perry said.
Your Neighborhood Store employee
Mary Chapman is now behind the post of-
fice counter much of the day. She has been
employed at the convenience store for sev-
eral years, so Perry is familiar with her
"Forgotten Mile"
Much progress has been made
since Seabreeze resident Joanne
DeFiore first shown the spotlight
on the "Forgotten Mile" a couple
of years ago.
Having met with Delaware De-
partment of Transportation (Del-
DOT) officials in late spring to
voice their concerns and offer
suggestions on improving safety
along the strip of Route 1 between
Dewey Beach and the park-and-
ride lot, concerned ci{izens re-
ceived a.progress update at a
meeting held Thursday, Sept. 18,
at Rehoboth Elementary School.
Liz Holloway, bicycle and
pedestrian coordinator for Del-
DOT, reported that the state is re-
searching the possibility of in-
smiling a traffic light in the Eliza-
beth, Dodd, Bayard avenues
vicinity. First, Holloway noted,
DelDOT's traffic section will sur-
vey that strip of road just north of
the Dewey Beach town limits for
traffic flow.
There were proposals years ago
to take Bayard Avenue, which
presently runs at a distinct angle
down to the Bay Resort Motel in
Dewey Beach, and turn it so that it
funnels into Elizabeth Avenue,
not out to Route 1, she said. If Ba-
yard were chosen for the light,
then Elizabeth Avenue would be-
work habits and dependability.
To prepare for their new venture, Chap-
man and Perry went to the Millsboro Post
Office to train, and they had the benefit of a
Millsboro employee spending some time
with them once they were open in Your
Neighborhood Store. Chapman said that in-
formation of th/: new branch office location
is slowly circulating, and business is steadi-
ly growing, but she thinks that many people
assume that the branch closed for the sea-
son. The former location was In Full Bloom
Florist in another shopping center.
"We know that some people think that
the Long Neck branch is gone, so we want
everyone to know we're here," she said. "I
don't think that there is a sign up, so it's im-
portant that we get the word out."
As Chapman explained her new duties re-
cently, a customer brought in a letter on its
way to Scotland and another inquired about
priority mail. Overseas postage and two-
day delivery services are available at the
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receives lo :s of attention;
come a one-way street leading in-
to Seabreeze Development, with
no egress to Route 1.
"We don't know exactly how
Bayard functions as another en-
branch. There are plans to add photocopy-
ing and faxing services.
Perry said most customers seem to be
pleasedwith the new location. He said the
development in the area has steadily grown
at Massey's Landing Road, so that the post
office branch is situated almost midway in
the population served. He said the ease of
getting to the store and the large parking lot
are all assets for the postal customers.
"We have a lot of traffic through our
store, and we felt it would just make it more
convenient for everyone. Here, they have
the store and deli, the ice cream shop and
the bait and tackle shop," Perry said. "It can
be an all-in-one experience, like one-stop
shopping. We're really pleased to have the
post office branch here."
The Long Neck Post Office branch hours
are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; Satur-
day, 9 a.m.-I p.m.; the phone number is
945-9050.
l light
.t I1C
trance and exit to Dewey and how
changes in routing would affect
traffic on other streets. We'll have
to have the traffic section run
some numbers and look very
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Continued on page 18
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