Retiring postmaster to be honored Friday

Otis Orchards Post Office is throwing a party Friday to thank customers and to send off Milly Kropp, the community’s retiring postmaster.

The three-hour event, which begins at 11 a.m., will feature live Celtic music by Crooked Kilt, an Irish band. The band plays at 1 p.m., with refreshments and prizes leading up to the performance. Friday is “Customer Appreciation Day” as declared by the departing postmaster.

Kropp, an Otis Orchards native, has handled the community’s mail for 31 years. The changes she witnessed during that time and before growing up in the area, have been significant, she said.

“The first route was started in 1965 with 300 deliveries and 65 post office boxes,” Kropp said in a written statement. “There are now four rural routes serving 2,300 customers and 575 post office boxes.”

The tiny post office, just west of Harvard and Wellesley roads, handles more than 11,000 pieces of mail daily. The building has a peculiar distinction: The east side of the building has a bank-style drive through, which only a few post offices nationwide have.

A new postmaster has not been named. Kropp wants to assure customers that the service at the post office will not drop off after she’s gone. She credited her staff with keeping the post office busy despite outside pressures from private shipping companies.