The anticipation for the total solar eclipse is building, and for a dozen Post Offices in Nebraska, that excitement will be celebrated with special local postmarks available on Monday, Aug. 21, the date of this once-in-a-lifetime celestial event.

The commemorative postmarks will be applied to envelopes, cards or any other items bearing First-Class postage stamps, including the Postal Service’s Total Eclipse Forever Stamp issued last month – the stamps themselves are the first of their kind, with the depiction of the eclipse revealing a photo of the moon when the heat from your finger touches the stamp.

Here are the 12 Nebraska Post Offices issuing special postmarks celebrating next Monday’s eclipse: Beatrice, Crete, Gering, Gibbon, Hyannis, Mullen, Nebraska City, Ravenna, Scottsbluff, Seward, Stapleton and Wilber.

The Special Postmark in Beatrice will be available Aug. 21 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Temporary Post Office at Homestead National Monument of America.

The Special Postmark in Gering will be available Aug. 21 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Temporary Post Office at Five Rocks Amphitheatre.

The Special Postmark in Scottsbluff will be available Aug. 21 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Temporary Post Office at Landers Soccer Complex.

The Special Postmark in Seward will be available Aug. 21 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Temporary Post Office at Junto Event Center.

Special Postmarks at Crete, Gibbon, Hyannis, Mullen, Nebraska City, Ravenna, Stapleton and Wilber will be available at the local Post Office on Aug. 21.

Postal customers may also obtain a postmark from any of the locations via the mail by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope inside another, larger envelope, to any of the 12 Post Offices on the list above using the following address format:

Mailed self-addressed, stamped envelopes will be postmarked at the appropriate city and then returned via regular mail. Postmark requests must be mailed to each Post Office individually to obtain that city’s postmark. Mailed requests for postmarks must be sent no later than Sept. 21, 2017, in order to be fulfilled.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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