The Postal Service dedicated this year’s Love stamp Jan. 14 during a virtual ceremony that highlighted a Colorado community that bills itself as the nation’s “Sweetheart City.”
For 75 years, Loveland — a city of 66,000 residents located about 45 miles north of Denver — has operated its internationally renowned Valentine Remailing Program.
Every year, more than 100,000 valentines, packaged inside larger envelopes, are sent to Loveland, where volunteers handstamp them with a special postmark and Valentine’s Day verse and send them on to the intended recipients.
“Many of our volunteers, they schedule everything they do in a year around the two weeks at Valentine’s so that they are actually able to be in that room and sending love all over the world,” Mindy McCloughan, president of the Loveland Chamber of Commerce, said during the ceremony, which was streamed on USPS social media sites.
This year’s Love stamp, available at Post Offices and usps.com, features a group of graphic hearts and simple shapes in bold colors arrayed playfully around the word “love” on a dark blue background.
It’s the latest entry in a series that began in 1973.
During the ceremony, Bailey Sullivan, the artist who designed the stamp, recalled her reaction when she learned the Postal Service wanted to showcase her artwork.
“I immediately burst into tears. I’ve definitely never had that reaction about a project before,” she said.
The eight-minute ceremony can be viewed on the Postal Service’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Employees who are unable to stream video from external sites on postal computers can use a personal smartphone, tablet or other device to watch the event off the clock.
Other participants in the event included Pritha Mehra, the Postal Service’s chief information officer, who said the stamp will add “a special touch to cards and letters. It shows thoughtfulness and care have been included, inside and out.”
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