VPO to Open in Freedom
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe U.S. Postal Service will open a Village Post Office Wednesday in the Owen County community of Freedom. The Greater Indiana District currently has 65 VPOs. June 2, 2014
News Release
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Although it is an unincorporated community in Owen County, Freedom has the distinction of having its own Post Office, and on Wednesday, June 4, 2014 the residents of Freedom will have an extended postal presence in their town .
Freedom was named after John Freedland who founded the town in 1834. It is probably best known as the birthplace of James Pierce, one of the original Tarzan actors. Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs chose Pierce, a former all-American football star at Indiana University, to play the part of the ape-man in the movie “Tarzan and the Golden Lion.” Burroughs thought so much of Pierce that he introduced him to his daughter, Joan, whom he later married. Pierce and his wife went on to play Tarzan and Jane in 364 radio programs in the early 1930s. They are buried next to each other in Shelbyville in graves reading “Tarzan” and “Jane.”
On Wednesday, June 4, 2014 the 66th Village Post Office (VPO) in the Greater Indiana District will open at the Freedom Express, 5720 N Main Street, Freedom, IN 47431. The official ribbon-cutting will take place at 12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and an open house will follow from 12 p.m. until 1 p.m.
Paul Singh who manages the Freedom Express says the owners wanted to partner with the Postal Service in opening a VPO in Freedom for the convenience of their customers. “The Post Office is now only open four hours a day, and we wanted to have a little Post Office here in the store so our customers could buy stamps and pick up the flat-rate packages even after the Post Office had closed for the day. Freedom is a small community and we see it as offering an additional service to our customers, and hopefully at the same time, increasing the foot traffic to the store.”
The Freedom Express is open each day from 6 a.m. until 10 p.m.
The new postal center will be opened by Manager of Post Office Operations Russ Thouvenot. Several USPS and local officials will be present at the event.
In 2011, the Postal Service introduced the VPO model as an alternate retail location for postal products and services, especially in rural communities.
VPOs are operated by local businesses contracting with the Postal Service and offer a range of popular postal products and services including stamps and flat-rate packaging.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
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Source: The U.S. Postal Service