Gordon Solle, Elsie, and Geneva (Putnam) Smith at the counter in Anderson’s Ice Cream Parlor in 1935. Geneva Smith became the Postmaster there in 1965. – Courtesy Omena Historical Society
Ernestine Freeland Johnson once remarked about the lengths the local postman went to look after his neighbors on his mail route. She said, “Ed Egeler was the rural carrier from 1927 to 1954. He was a very conscientious man. One winter it had been snowing a lot. Ed told her some man along the route had told him, ‘You know I’ve had impressions made for dentures,’ and the dentist said he’d send out his dentures. He told her that practically every day the man would be check his mailbox, No dentures.
Ed Egeler in front of Kimmerly’s Store Courtesy Omena Historical Society
Missing Dentures
One day Ed was in his cutter, delivering the mail, the one-horse cutter, and the cutter tipped over and spilled out the mail into a big snowbank. Ed picked up the mail as best he could and finished his deliveries. Just as he was getting close to his farm he thought “My Lord, there was a package with his dentures in it and now they don’t seem to be here.”
Back he went to where the cutter had tipped over. Sure enough he found those dentures, buried in the snow, and he was able to deliver them. But that was so typical of him. He would not have let anything get away, no matter what.” Ed was a rural delivery carrier for 27 years. One year after he retired, rural route delivery was discontinued.
Mark Frank and his motorcycle in front of the Post Office when he was Postmaster. – Photo courtesy of Mark
Many Postmasters through the years
We’ve had other long term postal workers who became an integral part of our community. Mark Frank was one. He was postmaster from 1991-2015….24 years We got very used to seeing his motorcycle parked in front of the Post Office and his careful insistence that the job be done right.
Geneva Putnam Smith was previously a soda jerk at Omena’s Ice Cream Parlor. She was postmaster for 16 years beginning in 1965. Geneva would listen for the train’s whistle as she worked,. She would hear it in the distance and dashed up the hill in her little Model A pickup truck. Geneva would catch the mail bags as they were tossed from the train on its way up to Northport.
Homer Fouts
Homer Fouts had fallen on hard times in 1932. He brought his family to live at Sunset Lodge which his son-in-law, Horace Wheeler, owned. Rather than becoming a burden, he and his brood of sons became a welcome help to the Wheelers. Tackling every job they saw, and seeming to enjoy the work.
In 1940 Homer, took over Postmaster duties in Omena a job which he held for the next seven years. His quick wit became so well-known he began to publish a column of his observations about Omena called “Omena Omens” in the Cherryland Review. His writings were sharp but funny.
Getting around in the winter was only possible with the help of horses and sleighs. While this isn’t Ed Egeler, it is a person headed to town just south of Omena.
Here is what he wrote about a choir rehearsal at the Omena Church. “We had an excellent rehearsal and old Ben sang bass with me and he sure surprised the natives. After rehearsal we had a lunch and then old Ed Scott started twanging on his old fiddle and Alice joined him on the organ and Troy Lawson began calling off the changes on a regular old barn dance while the preacher looked on in icy disapproval. I will be dadgasted if I didn’t get out there and cut a few capers myself”.
Father and Son Postmasters
Louis Anderson had a long tenure as postmaster, serving from 1914 to 1929. During this time government regulations required a separate entrance to the post office from the store. He added a shed attachment to the west of the store. This shed remains to this day as a part of Tamarack Gallery. Even with its separate entrance, the summer crowds made Anderson decide to move the post office down to the Ice cream parlor during the summer. He could also sell tourist items and homemade ice cream to people getting their mail.
Omena’s Post Office next to Barth’s Cash Store in an early photo. – Courtesy Omena Historical Society
Louis became a long-time member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He spearheaded the building of “The Pavilion” (now OTYC) as a place of entertainment while he was Omena’s postmaster.
Andrew Anderson, Louis’s father, was well known in Omena for his gregariousness. He was Postmaster for many years when the Post Office was in his store and in the Ice Cream Parlor. Andrew also was active in politics. He served as supervisor of Leelanau Township and state representative of Leelanau and Benzie Counties for the 1915 and 1917 sessions. One of the longest tenures at the position, Andrew Anderson served as postmaster from 1887-94 and again from 1898 to 1919. He was succeeded by his son Louis.
It all started on the floor of the Dougherty Manse
In its early days, Omena’s mail, if there was any, was just left in a pile on the floor of the parlor of the Dougherty manse. Distribution was left to anyone who came in. Then in 1859, Omena got her own real Post Office. Aaron Page was appointed postmaster, and for the next 22 years the post office was in his boarding house on the hill above the village.
We’re looking forward to meeting our new Postal Clerk. We hope she has a long tenure in Omena’s historic Post Office.