NAZARETH, Mich. — It's that time of year, and for many, it's the time for keeping up with tradition.
Around the nation that remains true for those who send holiday cards year after year.
Locally, one post office is busy helping with that tradition with a tradition of its own.
The Nazareth Post Office in Nazareth, Michigan receives tens of thousands of Christmas cards, and it's all so they can get canceled through a hand stamp.
In this case, it's a good thing. It's that black mark you normally see through your stamp so they can't be reused.
For stamp collectors, it can mean adding more variety to their collections.
"I’ve been collecting stamps since I was about 9 years old. This is a neat thing to add to your collection," said Kalamazoo Stamp Club Treasurer Paul Matyas.
The Nazareth Post Office is going on its 37th year holding its special Christmas card cancellation.
Paul Matyas with the Kalamazoo Stamp Club said it's a tradition for many families.
"Internationally people do collect the Nazareth stamp. We have letters from all around the world: Europe, Asia," said Matyas.
This year's stamp says "Christmas Star Station" with a "Christmas Star" in the "C".
"It just means more to people because it has the Christmas star station for the Nazareth station and instead of it just going through the post office machine with the date on it," said Nazareth Post Office Postmaster Terri Sootsman.
Sootsman said they receive tens of thousands of cards each year. Last year, they hand-stamped around 38,000.
"We have people that bring them by, and they want us to hand-stamp. We have several volunteers and half of them are retired postal employees. They volunteer their time to do the actual hand stamping since the postal employees are usually at the counter and don’t have a lot of time," said Sootsman.
Stampers said they're on track to see the same amount of cards this year.
"We have done this since 1985, so there is a lot of customers who have done this every year," said Sootsman.
"In this case, it is the Christmas spirit," said Matyas.
If you would like your Christmas cards canceled with the Nazareth stamp, you can bring them directly to the Nazareth Post Office.
You can also mail your already stamped and addressed cards to the post office in a large envelope with a request inside asking for them to be canceled until December 31st.
Their address is 5073 Gull Road, Kalamazoo, MI, 49048.
