Monday, July 7, 2025
More stamp release dates are announced
The lineup includes SpongeBob SquarePants, 250 Years of Delivering and Holiday Cheer
The Postal Service has announced release dates for the next batch of this year’s stamps, along with the cities where dedication ceremonies will be held:
• 250 Years of Delivering, Wednesday, July 23, Washington, DC;
• SpongeBob SquarePants, Friday, Aug. 1, New York City;
• Boston 2026 World Stamp Show, Thursday, Aug. 14, Schaumburg, IL;
• Luna Moth, Saturday, Aug. 16, Schaumburg, IL;
• William F. Buckley Jr., Tuesday, Sept. 9, New Haven, CT;
• Holiday Cheer, Saturday, Sept. 13, Washington, DC;
• Elie Wiesel, Wednesday, Sept. 17, New York City; and
• Winter Landscapes, Friday, Sept. 19, Danville, IN.
USPS announced these stamps in November, January, March, April and June.
Email us your feedback. Your comments could be included in our “Mail” column.
Heroes
He stepped up to help
This employee aided a customer who fell down the stairs of his foyer
Rural Carrier David Wyman was recently delivering mail in Auburn, ME, when he heard persistent banging coming from a customer’s house.
Wyman approached the home and saw the man on the floor inside.
The 94-year-old customer had fallen down several steps in the foyer and had lost consciousness until he heard Wyman’s USPS delivery vehicle approaching. He then banged on the door with his cane hoping to get the carrier’s attention.
The Postal Service employee called 911 and comforted the customer through the locked door until paramedics arrived.
The man’s wife, who was not home at the time of the incident, later wrote to the local Post Office to thank Wyman.
“He may very well have saved my husband’s life,” she wrote.
Employees featured in “Heroes” receive letters of commendation through the Postmaster General Heroes’ Program. The nomination form is available on Blue.
People
Moving the mail and lifting morale
Two handlers talk shop and a Post Office promotes stamp collecting
They say teamwork makes the dream work — a sentiment mail handlers Rachel Rodriguez and Chance Sweazey heartily endorse.
“We are a team and have to move as a team,” Rodriguez said.
“Nothing will get done working alone,” Sweazey added.
The two are considered top performers at the Postal Service’s Columbus, OH, Processing and Distribution Center.
Mail handlers are assigned an area during their shift and often operate powered industrial trucks.
“I am a driver for the bundle sorters,” Rodriguez said. “Typically, we bring mail in and out to the machines and clear any equipment.”
Sweazey is a group leader and coordinates operations with management.
“Part of my job as a group lead is to boost morale, so I do my best to joke around and have a good time,” he said. “Getting the mail out is great but I enjoy getting a smile out of people.”
Promoting philately
The Bairoil, WY, Post Office recently hosted a Stamp Collections Day to promote philately in the community.
Two local collectors displayed their stamps during the event, which delighted customers, according to Doreen Garrison, the local postmaster.
“It was great fun to listen to everyone talk about memories as they lived through during the years,” she said.
“People” appears regularly in Link. Got news to share? Email us.
News Quiz
Looking nifty at 250
Have you watched the video for the USPS anniversary stamps?
“News Quiz” is a weekly feature that lets you test your knowledge of recent Link stories. The correct answers appear at the end.
1. What does the final scene in the video about the new 250 Years of Delivering stamps depict?
a) A USPS employee hanging up a coat
b) A woman writing a letter from her kitchen table
c) Three bicyclists pedaling alongside a mail truck
d) Two young students waving to their letter carrier
2. McDaniel College in Westminster, MD, includes which of the following items in the acceptance packages that it mails to incoming freshmen?
a) Special “cash” to be used in the school bookstore
b) Confetti, balloons and keyboard stickers
c) Laundry detergent and disinfecting wipes
d) A school T-shirt and gift cards to local businesses
3. Whose 1999 photograph was used for the new Elie Wiesel stamp for 2-ounce mail?
a) Sergei Grinkov
b) Sergei Federov
c) Sergey Bermeniev
d) Sergey Lazarev
4. Chicago Letter Carrier Kalani Han included which three items in his postmark celebrating the Ravenswood neighborhood’s ZIP Code Day?
a) Baseball, basketball and football
b) Border collie, hot-air balloon and pinwheel
c) Fire engine, police car and ambulance
d) Raven, larch branch and oak leaf
5. The Postal Service delivered how many mailpieces in 2000?
a) 857 million
b) 75 billion
c) 106 billion
d) 208 billion
Answers: 1) a. 2) b. 3) c. 4) d. 5) d.
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered June 29-July 5
The bonded histories of the US and USPS, stamp release dates and a heroic rescue made news
Last week, Link celebrated the Postal Service’s deep ties to the country it serves.
This included a look at how the histories of the organization and the country are intertwined, and a new video that previews “Putting a Stamp on the American Experience.”
The prestige booklet features a stamp of Benjamin Franklin, first postmaster general of the U.S. postal system, to help mark the organization’s 250th anniversary. It will be released in July.
We also offered a reminder for the Independence Day holiday that USPS prohibits mailing fireworks.
There were stories on new stamp release dates, service standards changes that took effect July 1, the dangers of ransomware, the appointment of Michael Rakes as Atlantic Area vice president and a reminder about the sanctity of mail.
Meanwhile, “Heroes” told the story of David Wyman, a rural carrier in Auburn, ME, who came to the aid of a customer who had fallen. Wyman called 911 and comforted the 94-year-old until paramedics arrive.
“He may very well have saved my husband’s life,” his wife wrote in a note to the local Post Office.
And “People” spotlighted two mail handlers in the Columbus, OH, Processing and Distribution Center, Rachel Rodriguez and Chance Sweazey, who accentuate teamwork.
“Part of my job as a group lead is to boost morale, so I do my best to joke around and have a good time,” Sweazey said. “Getting the mail out is great but I enjoy getting a smile out of people.”
Email us your feedback. Your comments could be included in our “Mail” column.
July 14, 2025
Datebook
‘PSHB and Medicare in Retirement’
USPS employees may participate in a webinar that will help explain how the new Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program and Medicare work in retirement.
The session, “PSHB and Medicare in Retirement,” will be held Monday, July 14, from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern.
Representatives from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, a provider of health plans for federal employees, will lead the webinar.
Participants must register on the webinar website.
Participation is voluntary. Nonexempt employees must participate off the clock or during authorized breaks.
Employees who have questions can email the USPS Benefits and Wellness team.
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What's included
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More stamp release dates are announced
The lineup includes SpongeBob SquarePants, 250 Years of Delivering and Holiday Cheer
-
Heroes
He stepped up to help
This employee aided a customer who fell down the stairs of his foyer
-
People
Moving the mail and lifting morale
Two handlers talk shop and a Post Office promotes stamp collecting
-
News Quiz
Looking nifty at 250
Have you watched the video for the USPS anniversary stamps?
-
Week in Review
Here’s what Link covered June 29-July 5
The bonded histories of the US and USPS, stamp release dates and a heroic rescue made news
-
July14Datebook
‘PSHB and Medicare in Retirement’