The citizens of the Town of Ehrhardt received the news they were waiting for, when it was announced at Tuesday night’s town hall meeting on October 23rd, the Ehrhardt Post Office would remain open and the times of operation have been increased from two and a half hours per day to six hours per day. The Ehrhardt Post Office will also retain its current hours of operation for window service on Saturdays from 9:00 am to 10:00 am. The new hours for the post office are expected to go into effect around January 17, 2013, are as follows: Monday-Friday 9:00 am-1:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 4:00pm.

“Taking in consideration the community postal needs and work load at the post office, it has been determined that the Ehrhardt Post Office will remain open for six hours,” Bryan Cramer, Review Coordinator with the U.S. Postal Service told a large crowd of cheering Ehrhardt citizens in attendance at the meeting in the town hall. Cramer further noted the new hours should be an “uplift” from the two and a half hours the post office was originally open, “and that’s a good thing,” he said.

Ehrhardt Mayor William Stanley, who was in attendance at the meeting, thanked the postal employees for the good news, noting he wished the post office could stay open longer hours, but he appreciated the new hours they received. “We appreciate y'all coming and this message you shared with us. We wish it could’ve been eight hours, but we thank you for six." Mayor Stanley encouraged the citizens of Ehrhardt to buy their stamps from the local post office, noting “it helps down the road.”

Cramer stated the decision on the Ehrhardt Post Office was made in-part based on a survey of the community in which 171 of 634 (89 percent) of respondents stated they preferred the Realignment of Hours approach which, “gives communities the opportunity to preserve,” their local post offices under realigned hours of operation.

The postal employees stated 13,000 post offices nationwide and 106 post offices in South Carolina are undergoing postal plan reviews at this time because of the steep decline in first class mail delivery. “Unfortunately there are some offices not as fortunate as you are,” he said, adding some post offices are seeing their hours of operation increased from two hours to only four hours.

Harry Spratlin, Communications Coordinator for the greater South Carolina District, stated, the prospects for the postal system look good in the future. He stated the postal system delivered 168 billion pieces of mail in 2010 and generated $10 trillion dollars in business.

The postal employees left the citizens of Ehrhardt and other communities with one simple piece of advice, to keep the postal system solvent. “Write a letter to someone you know. A .46 cent stamp, in January 2013, goes to Alaska. It’s a keepsake item. Use the postal service, we’re there, we’ll be there.”