Freddie Wood (FW) and Wilma Sue Wood (WSW):
FW: My full name is Frederick Wood Jr., better known around town as Freddie.
I’ve been the grandson of the postmaster, the nephew of the postmaster, the son of the postmaster, and the husband of the postmaster.
How many people are in the town here … What would you say, Sue?
WSW: I would think there’s 150 people in the town. They go to the post office to visit and find out the news–who’s had a baby; who’s died.
FW: I have to go everyday–love to see people, talk to ’em and answer questions. Little feuds here, and arguments, you get to hear both sides and you try to stay in the middle. I have to do stuff like that a lot.
And my cousin calls me the Squire of Evinston.
WSW: We’ve had a lot of interesting people that come in.
FW: One of the characters, his name was Johnson. And he would come to the store especially when he got drunk. Once he walked from his house with nothing on but his long-handle underwear.
And his wife was a very educated and prissy lady, and they had a cow, and once she came by leading the cow. He says, ”Boys, there’s a million dollar woman leading a 10-cent cow.”
WSW: Another time, two couples came in from New York. One of the guys was very rude, and we had some turkey calls sitting there on the counter. Well I picked one up and gave it a squawk, and he came running over and he says, ”What is that?”
I said, ”It’s a turkey call, works every time.”
FW: The post office and the store, I just love it.
WSW: It’s almost like a member of the family. You have to treat it with respect and take care of it, and I think that’s what’s kept it going all these years.
FW: We get people coming in there and I don’t care whether they’re from Montana, Maine or wherever. They say, ”This is just like the little store and post office in the little town where I grew up.” They say, ”That’s gone now, but don’t let nothing happen to this, let it be like it is.”
And I’d like to keep it like it is forever if we could.