“The post office is the heartbeat of the town.”
Bruce Sturdivant, Member of Hartville Town Council
In the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, a whole lot of folks send their love to Hartville, Wyoming (population 62), and Hartville sends it right back. That’s because the little post office in this little town has made a big name for itself by placing a special “love” postmark on all outgoing mail during February.
The Hartville post office started using the love postmark in 1996 in an effort to attract attention, and mail, to the tiny town. It worked. Today, thousands of people from all 50 states and more than a dozen countries send mail to Hartville to receive the special postmark. Volunteers are called in to handle the flood of mail. They don’t mind; it’s a labor of love.
But this may be the last year the Hartville post office will be feeling that love. It’s on the list of Wyoming post offices slated for possible closure. Townspeople could find out as early as this spring whether love will find a way to keep their post office open or whether it’ll be blue Valentine next year.
Read more → Christine Peterson, Thousands send mail to Wyoming town for unique Valentine’s Day stamp, Star-Tribune, February 10, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment