Tonya Crofts has helped patrons at the Firth Post Office and in post offices from Aberdeen to Ririe and Rigby for the past 35 years. She retired from working at the post office on Thursday, June 30.

Tonya Crofts has helped patrons at the Firth Post Office and in post offices from Aberdeen to Ririe and Rigby for the past 35 years. She retired from working at the post office on Thursday, June 30.

FIRTH – As a Firth postal patron walked into the office to bid Tonya Crofts farewell, she teared up.

“That’s what I’m going to miss most about this place,” she said, “I love the people. I can be feeling down or depressed; when I come to work, all those feelings go away. I love people; I love to connect with people and the community.

“You couldn’t ask for a better community or neighborhood. I’m really going to miss it. I love seeing people from our community.”

She retired from working at the post office on Thursday, June 30. An open house to honor Crofts will take place at the Firth Post Office on Thursday, July 14.

Crofts’ work at the post office started because she thought it would be a nice place to work.

“We raised seven kids,” she said. “To make extra money, for 15 years I sold cinnamon rolls in Blackfoot.”

On one visit to the Firth Post Office, she suggested to postmaster Delwyn Porter that if he needed help, she would be available.

After the previous clerk retired, Porter offered her the job. She was hired as a post master relief (PMR) in 1987.

“I made $6.25 per hour for the first three years I was employed at the post office but I always said I would work for free if they needed me,” Crofts said. “After three years, the union helped to increase our wages.”

How have things changed since Crofts joined the postal service?

“When I was hired, I thought all I would have to do is sell stamps,” she said.

An antique manual scale took up all the space in the middle of the counter.

“We weighed everything by hand including packages and letters and sometimes hand-sorted up to 16 feet of letters. (Think Christmas.) Mail going out of the office was sorted manually and placed in mailing trays for delivery. We ran all outgoing letters through a manual canceling machine before sending them out. We also had to hand-write all forwards, attempts-to-deliver and unknowns. There was no electronics.”

Letters now arrive pre-sorted as they arrive at the post office. Packages have increased exponentially since COVID, she said.

The entire area of Firth was one postal route from Wolverine to the river.

The route was eventually split in two. Route 1 is 63 miles long and delivers to 593 boxes and growing; Route 2 is 18½ miles long. Carriers deliver into the city of Firth now where before, most people living in the city had post office boxes.

Now everything is done electronically. Postmaster Valerie Frye brought in electronics into the Firth Post Office.

One of the best improvements to the post office system is the fact stamps no longer need to be licked. “I’m sure you’ll all agree,” she added.

“The current stamps are so much better,” she said. “Forever stamps have been great; they increase in value with every price change.”

Stamps were sold for 22 cents apiece when Crofts started working at the post office in 1987. On July 9, the cost of forever stamps will increase to 60 cents apiece.”

Another improvement has been the tracking system that has been put into the postal system.

“Each package receives a tracking number; people are able to track their packages.”

Crofts attended 14 schools as she was growing up. She graduated from high school in Panguitch, Utah.

“My dad was a wheeler-dealer; he was a rancher and farmer who bought and sold land and motels,” she said. “The Riverview Motel in Idaho Falls was the last motel we owned. I learned to love and visit with people as I helped in the motels we owned.”

Her dad bought the Wolverine Ranch in the 1960s. Her great-grandfather owned the ranch in the early 1900s.

Crofts and her husband Delane have been married 54 years and have lived in Firth for 53 years. They have seven grown children; 30 grandchildren (five of them are married) and six great-grandchildren that will soon become seven.

“I want to work on my family history, do some painting, sewing and gardening. We want to travel some; I want to go fishing and camping with my husband and family. We have a cabin in Salmon where we would like to spend more time and I want to spend more time with family and become more physically fit.”

Speaking of the post office, she said, “I’m going to miss the connection I have with the community. I’m going to miss the people I work with. We are family here. Everyone is willing to help each other; to offer a helping hand. They are all committed to serving our community.”

Former Firth postmasters she has worked under include Delwyn Porter, Valerie Frye, Mel Hill, Dawn Morrell and present postmaster Brett Farnes.

She has helped in post offices from Aberdeen to Rigby, including post offices in Firth, Basalt, Shelley, Blackfoot, Pingree, Idaho Falls, Eagle Rock, Iona, Ucon, and Ririe.

“I want to thank all the people in our community and surrounding areas—including the friends I have made while substituting in other post offices. I have never met anyone who I didn’t consider a friend—even in the grocery store line,” Crofts said.

“I’m so thankful to all the postal workers from other offices that were always there and willing to help me when I had a question about something,” she said. “There have been so many changes and upgrades within the postal system to help increase the efficiency and safety of the mail stream.”

“One of my favorite sayings is: ‘ Just when you learn all the answers, they change the questions.’”

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