INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Just about 60 miles to the north of Indianapolis lies the tiny town of Swayzee, which according to its welcome sign, is the only Swayzee in the world.

This claim to fame is based on a story about a postcard sent by a serviceman overseas during World War II, which although being addressed only to "Swayzee,” with no mention of Indiana or any other information, was still said to have been successfully delivered.

On Thursday, November 15, 2012, Swayzee will make another postal connection as the 13th Village Post Office (VPO) in the Greater Indiana District officially opens in the Speed King, 204 N. Washington St., Swayzee, IN 46986.

Mike Hicks, owner of the Speed King said he’s delighted to be partnering with the Postal Service in this venture. “I think the VPO will be great for the community and also for this store.”

Hicks bought the Speed King in 2009, and remodeled it last year. The store is open Sunday through Thursday from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from 5:30 a.m. until 11 p.m. As he’s almost open around the clock, he sees having the VPO in his store as a great convenience for the community. “People can come in here to buy stamps or get postal products at any time. Swayzee is a hoppin’ little place, and the people around here have been very supportive of the store. I think having the VPO will be a real plus for them.”

The new postal center will be officially opened by Manager of Post Office Operations Tangela Bush and several USPS executives and local officials will be present at the event. The ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. and an open house will follow from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Last year, the Postal Service introduced the VPO model as an alternate retail location for postal products and services, especially in rural communities.

VPOs are operated by local businesses contracting with the Postal Service, and offer a range of popular postal products and services including stamps and flat-rate packaging.

Swayzee is the 71st VPO to open nationwide. Another VPO is slated to open in Preble, IN on Friday, Nov. 16. Two additional VPOs will open in the Greater Indiana District in November — Glenwood on Nov. 19 and Corunna on Nov. 27.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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