Sachs Harbour woman still gets mail out on time
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
NNSL (Sep 14/98) - To Martha Kudlak of Sachs Harbour, it still seems like only yesterday she'd leave her home every morning and make her way to the little shack which served as the community's post office.
Kudlak and her family moved to Banks Island from Holman Island in 1957 and then on to Sachs Harbour in 1960.
In 1972, Kudlak started handling the mail in Sachs Harbour and she's been doing it ever since, becoming the postmistress in 1980.
"It seems like just a few years ago we moved here," says Kudlak. "When I think that it's been 38 years, it doesn't seem like that long ago at all."
Kudlak says she has always enjoyed her job handling the mail, even during the days when heat wasn't taken for granted.
"I'd have to get up in the morning in the winter time and, when I'd get to the post office, I'd have to light the heater," she says.
"It was really cold, but I've always liked my job. I really like getting to see people. You know everybody in the community and when you have the mail you get to see most of them all the time.
"I had to learn my duties for three or four months by watching and helping until I learned how to do it right."
Kudlak said not much has changed in the way people get their mail in Sachs Harbour, they still drop by to pick it up, but she said there is a big difference in how much it cost to mail a letter.
"When I first started it cost, I think, about eight cents to send mail out in 1972. Now it costs 45 cents.
In 1990, Canada Post honoured Kudlak with its Golden Postmark award, given to those with 10 years experience as postmaster or postmistress.
Canada Post flew Kudlak and her family to the nation's capital and presented her with a brass plaque commemorating her Golden award.
These days, the post office in Sachs Harbour is run by the Community Corp., which took it over from Canada Post in 1993.
However, although the company and the location have changed, it's still a familiar face which greets Sachs Harbour residents when they stop by to pick up their mail.
