Anne Stegenga (right) purchases priority postage for two large boxes she sent to Alaska Monday with the hopes they'd arrive before Christmas. Clerk Dawne Heintzman (left) said the stream of customers made Monday the busiest mailing day for the Christmas season so far. The Luverne Post Office maintained a steady pace weighing packages and sifting through cards. Saturday was a different story. In-town delivery was completed, but some mail couldn't be sorted until Monday because of travel-prohibitive weather in rural routes. Employees had to hand-sort Saturday's leftover mail because of an overload needing to be machine sorted. Trucks loaded for routes early Monday because weather was expected to worsen before the usual late-afternoon loading time.
The Christmas holiday is typically busy for the Luverne Post Office, but this year, weather has played a part in speed of delivery. Once the mail leaves Luverne, Postmaster Charles Egland said other areas in the region may hold up delivery because of poor weather conditions. Priority mail usually takes two to three days to arrive at any destination, but this year, Egland said patrons could almost count on waiting a full three days before arrival. Luverne staff work extra hours, especially the part-timers, but Egland said hiring extra help isn't usually necessary. Postal rates go up a penny after Christmas - a stamp will begin costing 34¢ Jan. 7.
Photo by Sara Quam