Does Your Mailbox Need to be Replaced Here in Minnesota?

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If your mailbox has seen better days, this might be the week you want to replace it here in Minnesota.

I'm just going to guess that you didn't know there's an entire week devoted to mailboxes, right? I didn't, either, until I saw this note from the U.S. Postal Service regional office in Minneapolis. And, as it turns out, that week is THIS week-- because it's something the Postal Service refers to as 'Mailbox Improvement Week.'

According to the release, Mailbox Improvement Week, which is always the third week of May exists "...to encourage customers to examine and, where necessary, improve the appearance of their mailboxes. Neat, sturdy and attractive mailboxes make a significant contribution to the appearance of the streets and homes," the released noted.

So how's YOUR mailbox looking these days? Did our last Minnesota winter take a toll on it? (Even though this last winter wasn't too bad, at least compared to some other winters we've seen recently.) Our mailbox outside our house in northwest Rochester is in OK shape, but I've had experience with some that weren't.

Back when I lived over in Wisconsin, somebody apparently went careening down my street too fast and crashed into my mailbox, snapping the post right off. It was in the middle of winter when the ground was frozen, so I had to wait until spring to install a new box and post. I got a note from my mail carrier that said the current box I was using (which I had temporarily stuck in the snowbank) wasn't up to code.

And, since the pandemic has increased the number of things many of us are having delivered to our mailboxes, perhaps yours needs a little work. If it does, the Postal Service offers the following tips on what your mailbox should do:

Approved by the Postmaster General.
Fully operational.
Designed to protect the mail from the weather.
Safe to use.
Conveniently located.
Neat in appearance.
Large enough within allowable size limits to support the customer’s daily mail and package volume.

If your mailbox is so old, it looks like it's been there since the 70s (And, you can click HERE for more information on replacing your mailbox, btw), keep scrolling to check out this far-out house in Rochester that literally HASN'T changed since it was first built over 50 years ago!

Listen to Curt St. John mornings from 6 to 10 on Quick Country 96.5
and afternoons from 2 to 6 on 103.9 The Doc