Debbie Winchester has had a box at the Bryantsville Post Office for about 15 years.

Nearly every morning about 11:30 on her way home from work at Mclain’s in Nicholasville, Winchester stops by the post office to check her box and talk with Post Mistress Sheila Price and whoever else happens to drop by the small facility in Garrard County.

That routine will change on Oct. 1, when the Bryantsville Post office will join 11 others in the area that have or soon will be downsizing their hours in the latest attempt by the United States Postal Service to save money in the face of continuing losses.

On Oct. 1, the date of Price’s retirement after 27 years, Bryantsville will have its operating hours cut in half, with window service only offered from 12:30-4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:30-11:30 a.m. on Saturdays. The lobby, which contains the post office boxes and Priority Shipping containers, will remain open around the clock.

“I just think it’s pitiful,” Winchester said. “Especially for older people who get their Social Security delivered to their box. It’s safer than having a mail box, where someone can steal it. It’s just more convenient.

Customers take reduced hours at rural post offices in stride