HASKINS, Ohio — 83-year-old Barbara Kilgore still lives in the house she was born in on the 100 block of Mary Street in Haskins, a small town outside of Bowling Green in Wood County.
For decades, Barbara and her family would walk to get their mail, just a few blocks up the road to the Haskins Post Office, located in the heart of town, next to the train tracks. But now Barbara's husband, who also faces health issues, has to drive all the way to Bowling Green to pick it up.
"It's inconvenient for my husband, whose health isn't great," said Kilgore. "He's got to drive all the way to Bowling Green two or three times a week which uses gas, and we're both retired, living on social security. So that's money going out needlessly where going uptown just a few hundred feet makes a difference."
The Haskins Post Office closed at the end of May, after the building lease was not renewed. The letter announcing the closure is still taped on the window.
This has created a dilemma for some of the residents who live within blocks of the old post office. Because of their close proximity, the post office was not required to deliver the mail to their homes. Some don't even have mailboxes.
"The people that are affected in town here by the post office closure are mainly the elderly because they live in the old section of town that has never received mail delivery service," said Julie Snider, a resident of Haskins.
Snider drives to Bowling Green not only to pick up her mail, but for two other Haskin residents who are both in their 80s.
"That generation in general, they don't like to complain out loud. They don't want to present the town or anything about it in a bad light, and they recognize that it's not the town's fault," said Snider. "But this is still bothering them."
Town council member and former Haskins post master Nancy Perry is also bothered by the post office closure.
"There's people that will drive to the beauty shop in town, but they won't drive out of town, or into Bowling Green, or Toledo, or stuff like that because it's just more than they can handle," said Perry.
WTOL 11 reached out to the United States Postal Service for comment. They say the inconvenience for residents should be temporary.
"USPS is working on opening a modular unit in Haskins. The opening date has not been determined," according to the statement.
Until then, Kilgore's husband will continue to make his weekly trips to Bowling Green, to make sure any bills or cards sent to the family are received.
"You got a lot of people here that need their mail. This is just a little village. We're not a big metropolis, but we still should count," said Kilgore.
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