When you live in Loveland, Feb. 14 is more than just another day.
Each year, people across the world send their Valentine’s Day cards to the Colorado city, where a team of volunteers affix the envelopes with a special postmark before re-mailing them to the intended recipients.
Volunteers stamped more than 150,000 valentines last year. The program — described as the largest of its kind in the world — has handled more than 12 million mailpieces since it began in the late 1940s.
“We’re giving something back to the community, and it’s really wonderful,” Janice Gibb, one of the volunteers, told radio station KUNC last week.
In addition to the postmark, Loveland offers a special cachet stamp each year.
The town’s visitor center displays past cachets, which serve as reminders of bygone eras.
The 1951 cachet, for example, shows atomic missiles and Dan Cupid, the program’s longtime symbol.
“I think that’s one of the most special things about this program. When you look back at some of the cachets, it takes you back to what was on people’s minds at the time,” said Nicole Yost, a spokeswoman for the Loveland Chamber of Commerce.