RUDOLPH, WI— The Rudolph Post Office, located 1570 Main St, Rudolph, WI 54475, will celebrate the Rudolph Country Christmas event by offering a special postmark cancellation of the famous reindeer this Saturday, December 8 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

"Our stamping tradition here in Rudolph goes back many, many years,” says Rudolph Postmaster Becky Trzebiatowski. “And the annual Country Christmas event helps kick-off our busy holiday season.”

During a normal business day, the Rudolph Post Office may cancel about 1,000 letters and cards, but on the second Saturday of December the volume grows to about 10,000 pieces of mail. “That's the day when we hand-stamp each letter and card with the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer postmark,” added Trzebiatowski.

The decorative stamp program originally started with Postmaster Lillian Blonien in 1945 as a Girl Scout project. Ms. Blonien served as postmaster from 1940-1971 and started the tradition of postmarking holiday greetings with a pictorial cancellation featuring a reindeer design. Each spring there is a contest for the schoolchildren in Rudolph to enter their designs for this special Christmas cancellation stamp.

Also on sale at the Post Office will be the Sparkling Holidays Commemorative Forever stamps. These stamps feature classic images of Santa and can be used for mailing holiday cards and letters this year— and cancelled with the new Rudolph Country Christmas postmark cancellation.

As a community service, the Postal Service offers pictorial cancellations to commemorate local events celebrated in communities throughout the nation.  People attending these local events may obtain the cancellation in person.  Those who cannot attend the event, but who wish to obtain the cancellation, may submit a mail order request.  Pictorial cancellations are available only for the
dates indicated, and requests must be postmarked no later than 30 days following the requested pictorial cancellation date. Send mail order requests to:

United States Postal Service
Country Christmas Station
Postmaster
1570 Main Street
Rudolph, WI 54475-9998

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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