Last lick of the stamp
FRANK Deane hung up his postmaster hat and closed the doors of the Loch Post Office for the last time on Friday.
Closing the doors: Jennie and Frank Deane closed the doors to the Loch Post Office on Friday, after running it for 22 years.
Mr Deane has spent 22 years running the small town office and proudly holds the title of the longest running post master at Loch.
A stressful job in logistics made Mr Deane chose a ‘tree-change’ in 1991.
“Both me and my wife were working in Melbourne doing very stressful jobs,” he said.
“Jennie’s parents had the post office in Nyora for quite a long time so I spoke to her dad about the post offices and it seemed like a good idea.
“At the time I was operations manager for TNT and one of the contracts we had was with Australia Post in the old parcel centre in Footscray. I’d had a lot of dealings with them so it was sort of a foot in and we’ve always loved South Gippsland and wanted to live here, so we hunted around and found this little gem.”
In those 22 years the Deanes have seen the town go through a lot.
“The township seems to go through ups and down and when we first came here in 1991 there were a lot vacant shops and that kind of thing,” he said.
“But when we came we were followed by quite a few people also in our age group who bought into the town and revitalised the businesses and built it back up again.
“Some businesses are feeling the pinch at the moment again but I think we’re ready for another boom with lots of people moving in and people building in the area.”
The bypass of the South Gippsland Highway around Loch was a major plus.
“The bypass which was meant to be the death of Loch was not and if anything, it was the making of it,” he said.
“People are quite confident with crossing the road without getting run over.”
The pair made a lot of friends in the town, most of whom have dropped by to thank them for their hard work over the past 22 years.
Mr and Mrs Deane also live in the post office building.
“It’s been great. You wake up and you can just go straight in and get involved in work and then at the other end of the day you can turn around and close the door and you are home again,” he said.
“It’s been terrific living her in Loch for the past 22 years. It’s a terrific community.
“Probably things I’ll miss the most is interacting with the people and children.
“I’ve seen kids who were bumps in mummy’s tum grow up and get married and start their own families.”
The Deanes are selling the post office building and hoping to move to Inverloch to enjoy their retirement.
The post office building itself has been in operation since 1914 and was the official post office for South Gippsland throughout the first and second world wars.
Even though the post office is closing, the town will not be left without a postal service.
An Australia Post spokesperson said: “Australia Post is committed to providing postal services to the Loch community.
“To continue to service the needs of residents, we are opening a Community Postal Agency (CPA) at Loch Cosy Kitchen, 27 Victoria Street.
“Residents will have access to larger post office boxes at a concessional rate (where eligible) and over the counter mail collection as well as a full postage range including stamps and Express Post satchels.
“The CPA opens on Monday, July 1 and will operate Monday to Saturday from 7am to 5pm, with mail available for collection from 10am daily.”
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Posted by Jacob De Kunder on Jul 2 2013. Filed under Business, Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
