Greetings from Christmas City
One tiny town spreads cheer for card lovers far and near.
Winter is quiet in Missouri’s southwestern Ozark foothills, but the town of Noel starts bustling during the Christmas season. In the generous spirit of the holidays, volunteers at the Noel Post Office have handstamped the same greeting on Yuletide cards for nearly 88 years. It’s a rubber-stamped bright red wreath or green Christmas tree that says, “Season’s Greetings from Noel, Missouri, Christmas City, USA.”
Each year, in addition to the cards people bring in, as many as 40,000 cards arrive from all 50 states and several foreign countries to request the special holiday greeting. The post office staff can’t handle this monumental task alone, so about 30 volunteers handstamp the cards at a small table in the lobby. Dot Harner has coordinated the volunteers for about 10 years.
“Beginning in early November, I call everybody who’s stamped for the past two years, and then I round up new recruits.”
She says this work is ideal for retired people, students and anyone else who can help at least a couple of hours at a time Monday through Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings from the day after Thanksgiving through Dec. 24. Leatta Workman has volunteered since her children were little. She says, “We do several shifts so all my kids can get a turn. They get excited about all the places the cards are going.” Susie and Cliff Thornton have volunteered for more than 10 years. “I enjoy the connections you make with people around the country who mail in their cards. It’s a neat thing to know that you’re making a difference in someone’s holiday,” Susie says. Cliff adds, “It’s the joy of doing something that’s good for the whole community.”
The Noel project is successful because of the efforts of residents who give a little of themselves on each Christmas card that leaves the post office. And that’s the truest definition of Christmas.