Barss Corner gets first custom postmark

It's taken over a century, but the post office in Barss Corner, N.S., is finally able to make its mark with pictures on mail arriving for local residents and postmark collectors alike.

The tiny rural post office in LunenburgCounty that serves about 500 addressesheld a launch ceremony at the end of April to celebrate joining several other Nova Scotia communities that have pictorial postmarks, also known as cancellationstamps.

The postmark is an ink stamp used to indicate the date that a piece of mail arrived atits destination post office and to cancel the postage stamp attached.

Barss Corner postmaster Michelle Greek told CBC Radio's Information Morning Nova Scotia thepostmarks are popular with collectors and often depict unique features of the community involved.

She said nearby Mahone Bay has its famous three churches on its postmark. The Christmas Island postmark features a Christmas wreath and candy canes.

Greek said she got the idea of replacing the community's century old text-only postmark while attending a stamp expo in Bridgewaterlast fall and seeing what other communities had to offer.

While there, she met Cheryl Granthamof the South Shore Stamp Club and discussed creating a stamp that portrayed the spirit of Barss Corner.

"We have a lot of Christmas trees, we have a lot of farmland, so we were trying to get that on the design of the stamp and sendit off to Ottawa," Greek said.

Greek said Canada Post cleaned up her rough design and suggested including a depiction of the post office in the stamp.

The tiny post office building is now part of the stamp design.

The post office is an important gathering point forthe community, Greek said, and also includes a library and a food bank donation spot.

"I love that it looks just like our post office, even down to the little windows underneath the big picture window," she said. "The detail in this pictorial cancellation stamp is incredible."

The post office offered commemorative envelopesarranged by Granthamthat were postmarked for a $2 donation to the Canada Post Community Foundation, Greek said.

Greek said shecouldn't believe how many people turned up for the launch.

According to Greek, collectors wanting to get a Barss Corner postmark can send a letter containing a self-addressed stampedenvelope to the post office and it will be mailed back to them.