Send Joy w/ Your Christmas Cards

BY JIM TAYLOR, FARMWEEKNOW.COM 

Tis' the season for Joy in Joy, Illinois.

The small town’s post office, located at 202 West Main, has pretty routine business most days and most months with the exception of December. It’s not as busy as Santa’s workshop, but there is a distinct buzz. That’s because the Joy Post Office is home to a special holiday postal cancelation designed by a local art student.

“I decided I wanted to do a warm feeling kind of scenery,” said Mercer County High School Senior Mallory Mazzocco. “Whenever I think of Christmas time I think of the Polar Express movie and obviously there’s a train in it, so I tried to make it you were inside of a train and you were sipping a warm cup of coffee and looking out the window at the winter scenery.”

In some years, as many as 10,000 cards and holiday greetings are canceled by the special cancelation, from all around the globe.

“It really means a lot to me because I’ve never had my work displayed on such a broad spectrum,” Mazzocco said. “It’s just amazing to me that someone on the other side of the planet is going to see my work.”

To have your holiday greetings postmarked in Joy, send the self-addressed/self-stamped cards and letters via package to:

Joy Postmaster

c/o Holiday Postal Cancellation

P.O. Box 9998

Joy, IL 61260