Dena Goodrich with Mr. Bean: She’ll miss more than the people when she retires from the Winthrop Post Office.
It’s not every U.S. Postal Service employee who gets to snuggle a bearded dragon, but Dena Goodrich is not your average U.S. Postal Service employee. In fact, in just over a week she’ll no longer be a USPS employee at all.
That’s right — your friendly Winthrop Post Office clerk is retiring, and if you want to see her you’ll probably have to head to a body of water, where you’ll find her with fishing rod in hand, engaged in her favorite pastime.
But back to the bearded dragon. When everyone else was adopting puppies during early COVID, Mazama resident Donni Reddington adopted a bearded dragon. Bearded dragons eat 80% vegetables and 20% live food, like Dubia Roaches, superworms, and crickets. In case you hadn’t noticed, there is no live food store in the Methow Valley, so Donni ordered these little appetizers online.
Donni liked to take her bearded dragon, Mr. Bean, to the post office to collect the boxes of live food, and Mr. Bean took a shine to Dena, and honestly, who wouldn’t? But now Mr. Bean is moving to Colorado and Dena is leaving the post office, so that unique friendship is coming to an end.
The crickets and roaches aren’t the only critters Dena has had to contend with in her nine years at the USPS. In the spring, boxes of newly hatched chicks chirp endlessly. And “all the dogs come in with their owners,” Dena says. “They are the best customers in the world. All they want is a treat.”
Dena came to the Methow Valley from the west side in 1990. After working at Sun Mountain Lodge for seven years, she and her husband bought the Riverside Grill. After that business venture, she worked at Methow Valley Thriftway (then Red Apple) doing the books, and finally started at the USPS in 2013, working in both Carlton and Winthrop.
It was fishing that brought Dena to the Methow Valley, “all kinds of fishing,” she says. And that’s how she intends to spend a good part of her retirement — fishing, kayaking, and “enjoying this beautiful place.”
“I’m going to miss my people here,” Dena says of her coworkers. The feeling is mutual. “She’s so great to work with,” says fellow clerk Holly Longdo. Postmaster Louise Bighouse says “Dena is the best window clerk. She’s so good with customers — people just love her. We’re really going to miss her on the window.”
There will be a going-away celebration for Dena at the Winthrop Post Office on Thursday, June 30, from 2-3:30 p.m. Louise invites the community to stop by and thank Dena for her service and wish her well in her retirement.
