By RHEA-FRANCES TETLEY

The sign above the Crestline post office has been missing for almost a year, after it fell off during a big rain and wind storm last year.

“We took it down after it began to fall off, for safety purposes,” said Mike Johnstone, who manages Goodwin’s Market, which owns the post office building.

When that sign fell, it was taken down and stored in the back of the old Oak Trunk building, next to the post office, with the hopes of getting it fixed. But when fully examined, the wooden sign had obviously severely weathered and rotted away and was not fixable.

That old sign had been made over two decades ago by Jim Huff and Russ Keller of the Rim of the World Historical Society in the “Huffpetto” woodworking studio, not long after they had restored the Switzerland Monuments and signs. It was made to look like the original Crestline post office sign that was installed when the post office moved into that building.

About six months ago, when the old sign was rediscovered and was declared to be impossible to restore, it was given to a sign company by Postmaster Ken Cooper and they created a new sign. On Thursday, Sept. 28, the post office rented a scissor lift and it was reinstalled on the front of the post office.

Now people driving by will know that it is a post office, its name and its ZIP Code, all important identifying information for a post office, achieved with the simple installation of the new sign.

“With everything else happening in town since last winter,” one longtime resident said, “I hadn’t even noticed it was missing. But I’m so glad it is up and looking like it should, again.”