Postal Service to Dedicate Cherry Blossom Centennial Stamps During National Festival

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Mar 21, 2012, 03:26 ET

100 Million Forever Stamps to be issued in Full-Bloom

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being issued by the U.S. Postal Service:

What:
First-Day-of-Issue stamp dedication ceremony for the Cherry Blossom Centennial 45-cent Forever stamps

Who:
Ambassador of Japan Ichiro Fujisaki
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe
Stamp Designer Phil Jordan of Falls Church, VA
Stamp Artist Paul Rogers of Pasadena, CA
2011 Cherry Blossom Queen Allison Speaker
National Cherry Blossom Festival Executive Director Diana Mahew

When:
10:30 a.m., Sat., March 24, 2012

Where:
National Building Museum
401 F. St., N.W.
Washington, DC 2001
Directly across from Judiciary Square Metro Station (Red Line)

Background:
The Postal Service commemorates the centennial of the gift of more than 3,000 cherry blossom trees from the city of Tokyo to Washington, D.C. The stamps memorialize this gift honoring the friendship between the United States and Japan, and celebrate the continued close relationship between the two nations.

The two 45-cent First-Class Forever stamps — an artistic rendering of near mirror images — form the left and right halves of a panoramic view of blooming cherry trees surrounding the Tidal Basin. The left stamp depicts blossoming trees arching over two girls dressed in bright kimonos and a family on a stroll with the Washington Monument in the background. On the second stamp, the Jefferson Memorial forms the backdrop for tourists taking in the sights under a canopy of pink blooms.

Artist Paul Rogers of Pasadena, CA, worked with art director Phil Jordan of Falls Church, VA, to create the two stamp designs.

The event is free and open to the public.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world's mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service