PANHANDLE, TX — During 2010, the U.S. Postal Service will recognize all 52 counties in the Texas Plains Trail Region (TPTR) with a special pictorial cancellation. The fifth Special Cancellation activity will take place at the Panhandle (Carson County), Texas Post Office, 402 Main St., on February 3, 2010. For the rest of the year, a Post Office in every TPTR county seat will be offering their respective version of the design. The city, date and county will change each week.

The Texas Plains Trail is one of 10 such trails in the state, part of the Texas Heritage Trails Program, implemented by the Texas Historical Commission.

The following web site provides additional information on the Texas Plains Heritage Trails program – www.thc.state.tx.us & www.texasplainstrail.com.

To Obtain The Panhandle, Carson County, TX Plains Trail Region Pictorial Postmark

People visiting the Panhandle, TX Post office on Wednesday, Feb. 3, may obtain the Panhandle, Carson County, Texas Plains Trail Region pictorial postmark in person at the temporary Post Office station established there.

Those who cannot be there that day but who wish to obtain the special pictorial postmark may submit a mail order request to:

Panhandle Texas Plains Trail Region Pictorial Postmark

ATTN: Postmaster
PO Box 9998
Panhandle, TX 79068-9998

Pictorial postmarks are available only for the date indicated, and requests must be postmarked by March 3, 2010 -- no later than 30 days following the requested pictorial postmark date, February 5, 2010.

All requests must include a stamped envelope or postcard bearing at least the minimum First-Class Mail® postage.

Items submitted for postmark may not include postage issued after the date of the requested postmark. Such items will be returned unserviced.

Customers wishing to obtain a postmark should affix stamps to any envelope or postcard of their choice, address the envelope or postcard to themselves or others, insert a card of postcard thickness in envelopes for sturdiness, and tuck in the flap. Place the envelope or postcard in a larger envelope and address listed above.

Customers can also send stamped envelopes and postcards without addresses for postmark, as long as they supply a larger envelope with adequate postage and their return address. After applying the pictorial postmark, the Postal Service will return the items (with or without addresses) under addressed protective cover.

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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, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 26th in the 2008 Fortune 500.