Special postal cancellation observes anniversary of Alden Garden Club

post office cancellation for Alden Garden Club anniversary
Pictorial cancellation to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Alden Garden Club. Image courtesy Alden Garden Club

by Connie Oswald Stofko

A postal cancellation has been created to mark the 25th anniversary of the Alden Garden Club, and a short presentation with members of the club will be held at noon tomorrow, Wednesday, Aug. 16 at the Alden Post Office, 13127 Broadway St., Alden.

The pictorial cancellation was designed by club members Janet Hastreiter and Sue Galbraith.

Special cancellations like this one are prized by collectors.

“Alden will receive letters from all over the country,” said Michele Piasecki, a member of the club who is also the postmaster in Elba, currently assigned to Getzville.

There are two ways to get a letter postmarked with the anniversary cancellation, she said.

Take a stamped letter to the Alden Post Office from noon to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 16 and ask for the special cancellation.

A limited number of cachet envelopes, which have the cancellation design printed on them, will be sold for $3 each. (See more about cachet envelopes here.)

Piasecki noted that the new Flowers from the Garden stamps will come out the same day, so you may want to use those stamps with this cancellation. Another set of stamps gardeners might like are the Pollinators stamps, which came out Aug. 3.

“I love putting flower stamps on envelopes,” she said.

When the cancellation is made, the mark doesn’t cover the whole stamp, Piasecki said. The mark barely touches the stamp so it’s not obscured.

The other way to get the special cancellation is to mail in your request. Put a self-addressed, stamped envelope inside another stamped envelope and mail that, along with your request, to the Alden Post Office, 13127 Broadway St., Alden NY 14004-9998. These requests will be accepted for only 30 days, until Sept. 16. Usually the cancellation is destroyed, but in this case, it will be donated to the Alden Historical Society.

“After that, you will no longer be able to get the cancellation again,” Piasecki said. “That’s where the value comes in.”

The Alden Garden Club’s anniversary actually occurred last year, but they ran out of time and decided to do the commemorative cancellation this year, she said.

You don’t have to have a postmaster in your club to request a commemorative cancellation; anyone can do it. There is no fee.

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