I was raised in Ashton, Idaho, where my father, R. Purl Cordon, was the rural route mail carrier for 30 years. He had two routes, each 25 miles long. In winter, people on the routes received their mail every other day. Dad delivered one route on Monday and the other on Tuesday.

Dad used a mail sleigh pulled by a team of horses. The sleigh was covered with a white canvas, and it had a windshield, sliding doors with windows, a window in the back and a small stove with a stovepipe going up through the top. It was a great ride! I used to ski behind the sleigh.

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There is something Dad told me that I never forgot: The mail service was never set up to make a profit. It is a needed service because the mail had to be delivered all over the USA.

Now the government thinks that because some rural post offices are not creating a profit (did they ever?) they need to be closed. Big mistake! A post office in the outlying villages and towns of this great country is still the one sure way for people to have a hometown identity.

Alfred S. Cordon

Kaysville