Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat – Barbara Roney

May 25, 2006

Today we are welcoming another new writer for Storytime Tapestry. Barbara Roney becomes writer #330.  Please email her and welcome her in the usual warm Storytime Tapestry fashion.

Bridal Veil

By Barbara Roney

Nestled under some fir trees and with a beautiful view of the Columbia River sits a weathered, but very small structure just off Oregon’s Interstate 84, exit 28. Until recently no markings on the back of the building told anyone traveling along the freeway that this was a United States Post Office. The only hint given that this might be something special was the American flag flying next to the building.

Lloyd Davis is the Postmaster of this tiny office, and it is one of the smallest post offices in the United States being only 10 x 14 feet. Brides from all over the country desire to have their invitations hand stamped with Bridal Veil, Oregon on them. Lloyd happily and willingly gives them their wish as he hand-cancels over 240,000 pieces of mail each year. Lloyd says 98% of his business is wedding invitations. The small community near the Bridal Veil Post Office sends him the rest.

Being the Postmaster for the last seven years and working six days a week, from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Lloyd has seen his work load triple and the revenue quadruple during his tenure, which pleases him. He was worried that when he retired the post office would be closed, but due to his efforts of getting the word out and the usage growing, the current owner, The Trust for Public Lands, and the US Postal Service have said this small post office will continue doing business.

Postmaster Relief, Geri Canzler, with some help from Lloyd, designed and developed two pictorial cancellation stamps. Brides now have a choice between two cancellations for their invitations. One has two hearts intertwined with Marriage Station, Bridal Veil, Oregon beside them. The other has Bridal Veil, Oregon Invitation Station with two doves facing one another holding a ribbon between them on the front of an invitation.

The following tips for anxious brides and bridegrooms are ones Lloyd has learned through the years. He advises brides to take a completed invitation with all the enclosures included in the envelope and go to their nearest post office and have them weigh it so brides will know exactly how much each invitation will cost to mail before sending or dropping off the invitations to him. Lloyd will happily sell love-themed stamps to place on the invitations, as the revenue from the stamps will also help keep the Bridal Veil Post Office open. Brides should allow an extra week or so if they are sending their invitations to the post office for the hand cancellations especially the months March through August, which are the busiest. Lloyd does cancel the invitations on the day he receives them, unless the couple requests them to be done on a specific date, which he will gladly do for them. Lloyd also suggests keeping any international (to foreign countries), invitations separate as they take more postage. Different countries can require different amounts, and he will check each country separately and make sure the correct postage is on the invitation.

Lloyd has been invited to two weddings, one of which he was able to attend. The bride and groom were from Bartlett, Illinois. Their ceremony took place on the stone observation landing facing the lower cascade of beautiful Multnomah Falls. Lloyd said, “It was quite a treat to be able to see one of the weddings I had helped with.”

Visiting with Lloyd is like taking a mini-history class. Dropping off two envelopes to be mailed and intending to ask a few questions about the Bridal Veil Post Office, I was happily side tracked as I listened to the interesting tidbits about the history of the building and the area surrounding it.

Bridal Veil, Oregon was once a busy lumber mill town, which began in 1886 in a small valley near the highway. Bridal Veil is located on the Old Highway, the historic Columbia River Highway which parallel’s I-84 on the south side of the Columbia River or by traveling I-84. The first paper mill in the entire Pacific Northwest was established next to Bridal Veil Creek in approximately 1882, and they used the waterfall to power an electric generator to run the paper mill. The lumber mill was once owned by the Kraft Cheese Company from approximately 1937 to 1960 and operated under the direction of Leonard Kraft, one of the Kraft brothers. Originally making wooden cheese boxes for their Kraft brick and Velveeta cheese’s they converted to making ammunition and C-Ration boxes for the military during World War II. They also made ladders, mouse traps, “Lincoln Logs” and door and window frames. All required good, tight grained wood with no knots, which was available in abundance in the forest near the mill. At that time many of the trees were massive taking three men, several feet up off the ground to cut. The years and the change in economy have taken its toll on the area. The old Bridal Veil Lumber Mill is now gone with the last of the mill houses having been torn down within the last four years. The only thing left in Bridal Veil is the well-worn historic post office, a church and the cemetery, which had been abandoned since 1937. In recent years, hard work from a few, very dedicated, local citizens reclaimed it from numerous weeds and blackberries. 

The original post office was established on July 7, 1887. Today’s 140 square foot building was built by Lloyd’s uncle, D. Fay Davis, and used as the lumber mill’s First Aid Shack and later as a tool shed for the mill. Herschel McGriff, a race car driver who bought the town and mill in 1968, moved the tool shed to its present location from the mill property and converted it to a Post Office. Mr. McGriff spared the building that became the post office but had the company store, which had been out of business since about 1959, as well as the mill offices torn down. Today’s post office was built using local lumber, originally of shiplap and painted white. The board and bat seen now, is either fir or hemlock and was put on over the shiplap by Herschel McGriff.

Bridal Veil Post Office will have a new Postmaster as Lloyd is planning his retirement. He will turn the key over to someone new.

If you find yourself vacationing in Oregon, or traveling down Interstate 84 in the scenic Columbia River Gorge, take a few minutes to stop by the post office and say hello. Either Lloyd or the Post Master who succeeds him will be glad to see you.

Have the Post Master point out where Bridal Veil Falls is located. It’s not far from the Post Office and is a short and easy walk into it. There is a cozy Bed and Breakfast nearby, if you decide you want to stay and enjoy the beautiful scenery, hiking trails and the many spectacular waterfalls found in the area. 

Barbara Roney

busyb460 @ msn.com

Barbara lives in Portland, Oregon, and is a wife of 39 years, mother of two, and grandmother of Brianna, the light of her life. She has been writing for herself and her family for several years. Previous stories include Missing Dad, Pretending, Grandma's Quilts, Christmas Nostalgia and No Damage Done. She says "Writing is a wonderful way of expressing what's in my heart."