The Day The Mail Didn’t Go Through

By Steve Bigham

The US Post Office pledges that “neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night” shall stop it from its appointed rounds. That pledge took a day off Tuesday as the US Postal Service suspended mail service throughout the state, including Newtown.

It was the first time the mail had been halted in 23 years, since the Blizzard of ’78. The emergency ban on tractor-trailer trucks on all interstate highways in Connecticut kept the mail from getting through.

“We wanted to cooperate with the local authorities to minimize the number of cars on the roads. Also, because the highways were closed, trucks were not able to move the mail along,” explained post office supervisor Max Platt Wednesday.

This week’s storm caused heavy volumes of mail on Wednesday and the volume was expected to remain high throughout the week.

The news came as a bit of a shock to residents who showed up at the post office only to find it closed. Homebound householders went to their mailboxes looking for diversion on a snowy day only to find them empty. Some people reported not receiving their mail on Monday either.

The suspension of mail service in Connecticut Tuesday also had an effect on local businesses that rely on the post office to take the mail in and out.

United Parcel Service (UPS) also suspended service in Connecticut on Tuesday. Federal Express did deliver, however.

Town offices in Newtown were also closed on Monday and Tuesday in what is believed to be the first closing of town hall since 1978 when Governor Ella Grasso closed the entire state down for two days.

“It was a hard decision to close the offices because we are there to serve the public,” noted First Selectman Herb Rosenthal. “Monday’s closing was a direct request from the governor and Tuesday, he did close the state again for non-emergency employees, and in the morning he said that municipal offices should also follow suit. That prompted me to close town offices again. Also, if town offices were open, it might encourage people to be out driving. The goal was to keep people off the roads.”

Town employees were originally slated to report to work at noon on Tuesday. However, work was called off for the entire day late Tuesday morning.