SAN FRANCISCO, CA — In observance of Lunar New Year, the U.S. Postal Service will commemorate the first day of issue of the Lunar New Year – Year of the Horse Forever Stamp on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014 at the Hilton Hotel Financial District, Grand Ballroom, Third Floor, 750 Kearny Street, San Francisco. The public and media are invited to attend this national stamp issuance event. Stamp sales will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the ceremony beginning at 11 a.m.

U.S. Postal Service Vice President, Employee Resource Management Rosemarie Fernandez will be the dedicating official, along with San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee. Also scheduled to speak at the event are: Leslie Moe-Kaiser, executive vice-president of the Organization of Chinese Americans; Eddie Au, president of the Supervisory Board, Chinese Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Man Ton Toy, presiding president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association; and Claudine Cheng, past national president of the Organization of Chinese Americans.

Stamp artist Kam Mak will also be in attendance and available to sign stamp items. In creating this original painting, Mak worked with art director Ethel Kessler of Bethesda, MD, to incorporate elements from previous Lunar New Year stamps to create continuity within the series. The eye-popping illustration, based on a photograph by the artist, was originally created using oil paints on panel.

TheYear of the Horse stamp is the seventh of 12 stamps in the current Celebrating Lunar New Yearseries. The stamp art depicts Chinese drums, with drumsticks, painted red for luck, of the sort traditionally played to welcome the New Year. The Postal Service is issuing the limited edition stamp in plenty of time for customers to mail new year’s greetings. The Year of the Horse begins Jan. 31, 2014 and ends Feb. 18, 2015.

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