Edgecomb Postmaster Bruce Hartford. (Abigail Adams photo)
Nearly a dozen people attended a ceremony at the Edgecomb Post Office on Friday, April 21 to witness the swearing in of Postmaster Bruce Hartford. The promotion feels “like the culmination” of a nearly two-decade-long career in the Postal Service, Hartford said.
His career carries on a family tradition, as his mother is a retired postmaster and his daughter works as postmaster relief, he said.
Hartford started work as postmaster in January. The formal swearing-in ceremony, once a tradition in the Postal Service, is becoming increasingly rare, he said.
Family, colleagues, and community members gathered to watch Hartford take the oath of office, swearing to “faithfully discharge the duties of the office of postmaster.”
The Postal Service performs a vital function in town, Hartford said. He is now responsible for ensuring bookkeeping, customer service, personnel management, mail delivery, and other aspects of the post office run smoothly.
Hartford’s initial foray into the post office was in the 1980s, when he worked for two years as a substitute mail carrier for the Damariscotta Post Office. He left to pursue other work opportunities, but in 1996 returned to the Damariscotta Post Office as a rural carrier associate, filling in for the full-time carrier.
Edgecomb Postmaster Bruce Hartford takes the oath of office April 21. (Photo courtesy Bruce Hartford)
He would go on to become a full-time carrier himself with his first mail delivery route in Nobleboro. In 2013, there was an opening in the Nobleboro Post Office for an officer in charge. “I applied for it and they took me,” he said.
Hartford worked in that position until a postmaster was appointed in Nobleboro. He was given the option to remain at the office as a carrier, “but I found that I really liked running an office,” he said.
Hartford did stints in New Harbor and North Vassalboro, filling in as postmaster, before arriving in Edgecomb in August 2014.
Hartford came to Edgecomb to fill in for the postmaster, who was temporarily assigned to another office. When the postmaster left for another placement, Hartford threw his hat in the ring to become postmaster.
After a lengthy application and interview process, Hartford was selected out of 10 candidates. He became Edgecomb’s postmaster Jan. 21.
The Edgecomb Post Office is a small office, but a busy one, Hartford said. In addition to running two mail routes for a town with a population of about 1,250, the post office is relied on by area businesses to ship their packages, he said.
Through the support of residents, businesses, and other customers, the Edgecomb Post Office is “able to hold its own” as a revenue-generating business, Hartford said. “I’m pretty proud of that.”
Hartford, of Jefferson, grew up in Nobleboro, a town that has a lot in common with Edgecomb, he said. They both have Route 1 cutting through the middle of town, they both have similar populations, and the customers in both towns “are wonderful and supportive,” he said.
“When I got here it felt like home,” he said.
