Thursday, November 16th, 2006  »  Family Fun

A mark of distinction

This is not as much about traveling as it is suggesting that you have traveled. Or hinting to friends and relatives that your family has “gone the extra mile” (in the words of one major Web site) to make this year’s holiday greeting something special. The real gift is that you can go that extra mile without ever leaving home.

There are more than 100 holiday-themed communities around the country and getting Christmas cards postmarked from places like North Pole, Bethlehem, Christmas, Holly, Nazareth or Rudolph adds a special holiday flair for those who want to make the extra effort required.

The front runner in the postmark derby is (no surprise here) North Pole, Alaska. But there are dozens of other interesting postmarks—from Advent, WV 25231 to Wiseman, AZ 72587. The Midwest is well represented. In fact, of the 100 or so communities with holiday names, the twelve states of the Midwest have nearly two dozen of them.

Antler, ND 58711
Bethlehem, IN 47104
Chestnut, IL 62518
Christmas, MI 49862 (community post office of Munising)
Frost, MN 56033

Holly, MI 48442
Hope, IN 47246
Hope, MI 48628
Hope, MN 56046
Joy, IL 61260

Nazareth, MI 49074
Noel, MO 64854
Partridge, KS 67566
Rudolph, OH 43462
Rudolph, WI 54475

Saint Joseph, IL 61873
Saint Joseph, MI 49085
Saint Joseph, MN 65374
Saint Mary, MO 63673
Saint Marys, KS 66536
Santa Claus, IN 47579
Shepherd, MI 48883
Spruce, MI 48762

Of course, postmarks from the majority of these communities will be just that—nothing special. However, a number of them offer special holiday postmark designs. So if you’re going to invest the time and effort in getting a holiday postmark, go for one with a special design.

In the Midwest, these include: Antler, ND 58711; Noel, MO 64854; Carrollton, MO 64633; Frost, MN 56033; Holly, MI 48442; Hope, KS 67451; Hope, MN 56046; Saint Joseph, MI 49085; and Santa Claus, IN 47579.

This special postmark service is provided free of charge by the U. S. Postal Service, their take on the holiday spirit I guess. A pretty significant gesture all in all when you consider that UPS employees already deliver nearly half of the world’s mail—some 200 billion individual pieces. If you’re interested is using this service, just follow these three steps.

1. Bundle up your greeting cards in a large envelope or box and label it “Holiday Greeting Card Re-Mailing.”
2. Address it to the “Postmaster” of the town where you would like your cards postmarked.
3. Take it to your local post office for weighing and mailing.

According to the UPS, most cards will be delivered in time for Christmas IF they are received by the re-mailing offices by December 15. (If you want a postmark from North Pole, Alaska, address your package to “North Pole Christmas Cancellation, Postmaster, 5400 Mail Trail, Fairbanks, AK 99709-9999.”)

Want to roll a re-mailing effort into a Christmas shopping day trip? Then consider this: Holly, MI, is in close proximity to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland (Frankenmuth), the world’s largest Christmas store, and Old World Canterbury Village (Lake Orion), another Christmas retail giant.

In addition, just a few miles further down the road from St. Joseph, MI, is Country Mates Gift & Christmas (New Buffalo). To learn more about the locations of the other 56 Christmas stores in the Midwest or the other 311 in the United States, visit my web site. By the way, Santa Claus, IN, is unfortunately a long drive. It’s in southern Indiana, a few miles south of I-64.

 

Back to top

 

More in Newspaper Columns

« Previous Article  |  Back to Newspaper Columns  |  Next Article »