|
What: |
This Saturday, the U.S. Postal Service will release five New England Coastal Lighthouses stamps. Sail into the harbor, take a train or bus, or drive to attend the First-Day-of-Issue ceremony that will unveil and dedicate the Portland Head lighthouse stamp. The five featured lighthouses in this series are among the oldest in the United States and all on the National Register of Historic Places. The lighthouses include: Portland Head, Portsmouth Harbor, New London Harbor, Point Judith, and Boston Harbor. Northeast Area Post Offices are hosting first-day ceremonies at each location. For these special occasions, the Postal Service will unveil enlargements of the lighthouses and issue special pictorial postmarks. The stamps will be sold at the event, along with other philatelic items such as First-Day-of-Issue keepsakes, First-Day digital covers, note cards and postcards. The Portland Head Light Museum gift shop will also have related merchandise available. |
|
Who: |
|
|
When: |
Saturday, July 13, 2013 |
|
Where: |
Portland Head Light |
|
MEDIA |
Media is invited to attend the events, take photos and interview the speakers and special guests, as well as other agreeable audience members and postal communications representatives. Please contact Tom Rizzo at 207 482-7111 for additional information or to arrange an interview. |
|
Background: |
The popular lighthouse stamps series continues to shine with the issuance of New England Coastal Lighthouses. Featuring paintings by artist Howard Koslow of Toms River, NJ, the five stamps depict New England Coastal Lighthouses: Portland Head, Cape Elizabeth, Maine; Portsmouth Harbor, New Castle, New Hampshire; Point Judith, Narragansett, Rhode Island; New London Harbor, New London, Connecticut; and Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts. Each stamp shows a close-up view of one of the five lighthouses that captures not only the down-to-earth aspect of the tower but also the mysterious qualities that compel us to come closer. Each lighthouse achieves a beauty and romance that reaches far beyond their practical nature. Among the guest speakers will be Rick Uluski, Area Vice President, Northeast Area of the U.S. Postal Service. “This is the first time five New England lighthouses are being issued on the same day. We are excited to unveil these pillars of maritime safety on stamps simultaneously in communities at the respective locations. We hope everyone will enjoy these stamps as much as we do here at the postal service.” Howard Koslow created original paintings for New England Coastal Lighthouses stamp art—and for the entire lighthouse series which begin in 2009. Howard E. Paine and Greg Breeding served as art directors. The New England Coastal Lighthouses stamps are being issued as Forever stamps. New London Harbor was one of the earliest American lighthouses with a flashing light, added in 1801 to distinguish it from the lights of nearby homes. This wonderful pillar of light is operational and continues to aid navigation for maritime pilots. Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, safe entries to harbors, and can also assist in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and replacement by modern electronic navigational systems. New London’s Harbor Lighthouse Society is currently sponsoring a fundraiser to cover the cost of renovating the exterior, which a contractor has estimated at one hundred and sixty thousand dollars. To learn more about the London Harbor Lighthouse visit: http://www.nlmaritimesociety.org/calendar.html. More information about the lighthouse stamps and many other stamp issuances may be found at www.beyondtheperf.com. The New England Coastal Lighthouse Stamps and other items go on sale July 13 at post offices countrywide, online at www.usps.com or by calling 800-STAMP-24. Available in panes of 20, customers may purchase these stamps during the First Day of Issue Ceremony, at usps.com/stamps, by phone 800-STAMP24 and at Post Offices nationwide on July 13, 2013. How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue PostmarkCustomers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office, at The Postal Store® website at www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to: New England Coastal Lighthouses New England Coastal Lighthouses (Portland Head) Stamps New England Coastal Lighthouses (Portsmouth Harbor) Stamps New England Coastal Lighthouses (Point Judith) New England Coastal Lighthouses (Boston Harbor) Stamps After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. For more than 50, customers have to pay five cents each. All orders must be postmarked by September 13, 2013. How to Order First-Day CoversThe Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic catalog, online at www.usps.com/shop or by calling 800-782-6724. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-782-6724 or writing to: U.S. Postal Service Philatelic ProductsThere are nine philatelic products available for this stamp issue: To view these items, go to www.usps.com and enter the catalog number in the ‘search’ box. |
# # #
Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at http://about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.
For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to http://about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf.
A self-supporting government business, 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 nearly 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, the U.S. Postal Service was ranked number one in overall service performance, out of the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world, Oxford Strategic Consulting. 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.
Follow the Postal Service on twitter.com/USPS and at facebook.com/USPS.
