Du Quoin Postmaster offers mailbox tips

<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">With summer just a month away, the Du Quoin's postmaster is asking all area homeowners to inspect and repair their mailboxes.<br /> "Repairing suburban and rural mailboxes improves the appearance of our community and makes delivering and receiving mail safer for our carriers and customers," Du Quoin Postmaster Stephen Dinkins said.<br /> The Postal Service publicizes this annually because of the wear and tear that occurs to mailboxes every year. <br /> "This is especially important after the effects of last winter," Dinkins said.<br /> Some of the typical activities that may need to be done include replacing loose hinges on a mailbox door, repainting a mailbox that may have rusted or started peeling, remounting a mailbox post if loosened, or replacing or adding house numbers.<br /> "Customers should be careful when purchasing curbside mail receptacles because the use of unapproved boxes is prohibited," Dinkins said. "Customers may use a custom-built mailbox, but they must consult with my office to ensure it conforms to guidelines applying to flag, size, strength and quality of construction."<br /> For more information on the use of names or numbers on mailboxes, or answers to any other questions, contact Dinkins at 618-542-3933.</span></span>