Postal Service cuts may ground mailboat route on Great Pond

BELGRADE LAKES – People who’ve seen the movie “On Golden Pond” might remember mail boats that delivered letters to cottages along the lake. Some lakeside residents think the boats might soon be just that: a memory.

The unusual mail route is being reviewed by postal officials who have jurisdiction over Great Pond, the central Maine lake portrayed in the Academy Award-winning movie and book by the same title.

About 100 residents depend on the mail service. One of them, Robert McTaggart, who has received his mail by boat for the past 12 years, received a letter forwarded from postal officials saying there are no plans to end the service.

But another letter, sent by the U.S. Postal Service to the Kennebec Journal, said there are no plans to eliminate the mail boat for the 2003 summer season. It makes no commitment beyond then, and also notes that the Postal Service will be looking for ways to cut costs by billions of dollars.

Lake residents are hoping Maine U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both Republicans, can help to preserve the service. McTaggart said it has historical significance.

“It’s a wonderful service, and also I think it’s a tourist attraction for the Belgrade Lakes area. Lots of people use the mail boat to see the lake,” he said.

Christine Dugas, a Postal Service spokeswoman who sent the letter to the Kennebec Journal, said the service is looking for savings because mail volume is declining for the first time in its history.

Dugas said the number of Postal Service customers is growing but revenue is down because less mail is being sent.

“We’re looking at how we can get a savings without having an adverse impact on the customers,” she said.