McDonald County Press

Noel Continues Stamping Tradition

VOLUNTEERS RUN 84-YEAR EFFORT IN THE CHRISTMAS CITY

- Rachel Dickerson rdickerson@nwadg.com

Christmas stamping season has begun at the Noel post office.

Nate Miller of Noel is one of the volunteers who works each year between Thanksgivi­ng and Christmas Eve adding special stamps to the many Christmas cards that come through the post office from around the U.S. He has been taking part in the annual tradition for at least 15 years, he said.

“It seems like I know just about everybody in town, but people come from out of town, and you meet new people,” he said. He added that some people make a day of dropping off their Christmas cards, then stopping to eat at Cotton Eyed Joe’s while in town.

According to informatio­n from the post office, the special Christmas stamps date back 84 years to when a Frenchman, Edward T. Rousselot, was postmaster in Noel. He proposed a special Christmas cancellati­on from the only town in the U.S. named Noel — which means “Christmas” in French. The tradition started in 1932 but became extremely popular in the late 1940s when Kate Smith, a popular radio and television singer, learned of Noel and began telling the story every year at Christmast­ime on her broadcast. Now, every year, the post office receives tens of thousands of Christmas cards from around the U.S. From Thanksgivi­ng to Christmas Eve, volunteers work in the post office lobby stamping envelopes.

Don Spiares, postmaster in Noel for five years, said there are only four cities in the U.S. with special Christmas cancellati­ons. In addition to Noel, the cities are Bethlehem, Pa.; Santa Claus, Ind.; and North Pole, Alaska. Loveland, Colo., does a special Valentine’s Day stamp, he added.

“There used to be a whole bunch more, but a lot of them went by the wayside,” he said. “I think it’s a tradition we need to keep up and keep running. It’s something we take pride in being one of the few that do it. It’s a source of civic pride.”

Spiares said volunteers come from not only Noel but also from Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Dot Harner, who coordinate­s the volunteers, was on hand decorating the inside of the post office lobby. Asked why she enjoys being a part of the Christmas stamping every year, she said, “I get to see people that I don’t get to see during the year, and I get to meet new people. I enjoy bringing suckers for the kids, and I always bring cookies for the mail carriers. I appreciate every stamper I can get.”

She added she was “trying to get Christmas back in Christmas City.” She challenged other businesses to decorate their windows like the post office has “so that we are a Christmas City again.”

 ?? RACHEL DICKERSON/ MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS ?? Volunteer Nate Miller stamps a piece of mail at the Noel Post Office using the special Christmas stamps.
RACHEL DICKERSON/ MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Volunteer Nate Miller stamps a piece of mail at the Noel Post Office using the special Christmas stamps.

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