THAYER — It’s a quiet walk down the hill on third Avenue to the post office each morning for longtime Thayer resident Naomi Welcher. The still quiet is interrupted only by the occasional rooster’s crow or chirping birds. sometimes a gentle breeze wafts the sound of traffic from Highway 34 past the railroad tracks, north to the tiny post office entrance. The only remnant of commerce left in Thayer, other than Thunder Alley Hot Rod Shop along the highway, is the U.S. Post Office located in a small leased building that housed a bank in the town’s early railroad years. Jennifer Mitchell, the Postal Service’s officer in charge, waits on customers through the former bank teller’s window. But business isn’t exactly brisk. With a population of 59, this is a much different environment than the town of 200 that once had two banks, two grocery stores, hardware store and school, whose girls basketball team proudly played twice at the state tournament. now, Welcher is one of the few customers Mitchell sees each day at the postal counter. Welcher makes her daily trek down third Avenue to check for mail in Post Office Box 56. The United States Postal Service has targeted Thayer for one of 75 Iowa post office closures. “We’re supposed to know by August,” said Welcher, a member of the Thayer City Council. “It’s a bad thing, but I understand it if they can’t make money.”