MAIL EARLY TO INSURE DELIVERIES; U.S. POSTAL SERVICE ENTERS BUSY SEASON

Postal employees are bracing for what's expected to be an even greater volume of Christmas mail this year than last in Cape Girardeau.

In 1991, Operation Desert Storm was responsible for a large increase in mailing of Christmas parcels, letters and cards.

But Cape Girardeau Postmaster Mike Keefe says the volume of Christmas mail this year likely will top last year's.

"The reason is the 29-cent stamp has been in existence now for over two years," Keefe said. "People have adjusted to that and are expanding their Christmas card lists.

"This year, our volume of regular mail alone is up over 3 percent, and we think that will be reflected in Christmas mail as well."

Because of the anticipated increase in Christmas mail this year, Keefe said window hours have been expanded four hours at the Cape Girardeau Post Office during the week.

"We'll open at 7 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.," said Keefe. Normal hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Special Saturday hours also will be offered for Holiday. Starting Dec. 5, service windows will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday until Christmas.

Keefe said the extended hours are designed to help everyone get their Christmas mailing done early.

"The extended hours during the week and on Saturday will give everyone an opportunity to get to the post office after work or before they go to work," he said.

While it's still a little early for mailing Christmas cards, Keefe says Christmas parcel mailing already is in full swing.

Besides the usual Christmas parcels that are being mailed to overseas air, army and fleet post offices, Keefe said the post office also is handling a lot of mail order parcels.

"Most of the mail order businesses send out their Christmas catalogues in October and November," he said. "A lot of that mail-order business is starting to show up as the parcels arrive here so they can be wrapped for Christmas gifts, and either be remailed or delivered locally.

"We started to see it increase during the middle of last week, and it's continuing to grow in volume each day. We anticipate the volume of Christmas parcel mail will continue to grow during the first two weeks of December, and peak at about Dec. 18."

Compared to previous years, Keefe expects less Christmas parcels to be mailed to overseas air, army and fleet post offices. That's because Desert Storm is over, and many overseas U.S. military installations have closed in the past few years.

But Keefe said the volume of Christmas parcel mail within the United States continues to grow. As the volume of outgoing mail increases every day, so does the volume of parcels and cards coming into Cape Girardeau.

The peak for Christmas parcels arriving in Cape will take place between Dec. 14-18. The peak day for incoming Christmas cards will be Dec. 21, Keefe said.

"We're expecting a very busy Christmas mailing season, so we urge everyone to mail early if possible, to ensure delivery before Christmas," he said.

This Christmas, the Postal Service has announced a new policy for mailing Christmas parcels that should help for a timely and convenient delivery of the parcel. It's called the carrier-release program.

"It's a new service for our mailing customers," Keefe explained. "Letter carriers can now be instructed to leave uninsured parcels at the place of delivery if no one is at home to receive it, provided there is a location that is protected from the weather."

To take advantage of the new service, Keefe said the sender of the parcel should write on the parcel, beneath the return address: "Carrier-leave if no response."

If this endorsement is written on the parcel, Keefe said the mail carrier will leave the parcel in a protected area.

"This will eliminate the need for the recipient to come to the post office or to make other delivery arrangements," he added. "It will make sending holiday gifts even easier and provides a more timely delivery of your packages."

Keefe said the mailing deadline for air-mail Christmas cards and letters and priority mail to army, air force, and fleet post offices in England and Europe is Dec. 2. Other APO and FPO deadlines will occur on Dec. 6 and 9. In addition, the mailing deadline for Christmas cards and letters to international addresses starts Dec. 2, and ends Dec. 7. Contact the post office for mailing deadlines for specific countries.

For those planning to mail Christmas parcels in the United States, Keefe has several suggestions to ensure the parcel arrives on time and intact.

"Wrap your gift as pretty as you please, but when preparing it for mailing, aim for utility," he says. "If you're mailing a parcel, use a sturdy carton large enough to accommodate the gift package plus cushioning, and remove or mark out any conflicting address information."

Keefe said brown wrapping paper and twine cord aren't necessary, and can be detrimental. The paper can rip and the twine can become entangled in processing equipment.

He recommends Christmas parcels be sealed with either pressure-sensitive tape, nylon-reinforced craft paper tape or glass-reinforced pressure sensitive tape.

The recipient's address belongs in the lower right portion of the parcel, on one side only. The sender's return address goes in the upper left hand corner of the parcel, on one side only. Both the recipient and sender's addresses should include their proper ZIP code.

Before sealing the parcel, Keefe said it's a good idea to place the sender and recipient's address and ZIP code on a separate sheet of paper and place it inside the parcel.

Proper addressing means complete and legible addressing," he said. "Always include apartment and suite numbers and correct ZIP codes.

"The ZIP code belongs on the same line as the city and state, which is where our sorting clerks look for it. To ensure legibility, print the address clearly with smudge-proof ink."

When mailing Christmas cards and letters, Keefe said it's better to type the address instead of writing it.

"I know it goes against tradition, but our high-speed electronic mail scanning equipment is designed to read type-written addresses on the envelopes. If you have a typewriter or computer printer, you can print the address on the peel-and-stick labels," he said.

For those without access to a typewriter or computer printer, Keefe has these suggestions for addressing Christmas cards:

Print the address.

Keep a uniform left margin, use all capital letters, and make sure they don't touch each other.

Eliminate all punctuation except the hyphen when you use the ZIP-plus-4 codes.

Make sure the city, state and ZIP code line are at least one inch above the bottom. If you use address labels, place them one inch above the bottom of the envelope.

Spell out the name of the city, but use the postal service's special two-letter abbreviation for states. Use a single space between words and between state abbreviations and the ZIP code. Be sure to use the correct ZIP.

Do not use the name of a building in place of the street address. For rural addresses, the route number should precede the box number.

Use the abbreviations Ave., St. Ln., and Rd., and use only the first letter for north, south, east and west.

"These tips are good for hand-addressing cards and letters any time of the year, in addition to Christmas," Keefe said. "I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and again remind everyone to mail early and mail correctly."