Three sites in Spokane will celebrate the issuance of the new "Love" commemorative postage stamps on February 14th. Spokane Postmaster Ed Schierberl will unveil the new stamp during a ceremony beginning at 12 p.m. at Spokane's historic Flour Mill. Special day-long events will also be held at Hillyard Branch Post Office, 4401 N Freya, and Regal Branch, 5428 S Regal. The public and community are invited to all three events.

The new stamps will be available at all three locales for purchase in books along with plush bears holding chocolate "kisses." Special postmarks will be available at the Flour Mill and Regal Branch. Free prize drawings will be held at Hillyard and the Flour Mill.

Evoking images of sweet and ardent affection, the "Love" stamp features a Hershey's Kisses chocolate and a red heart that for mirror images of one another. Written on the heart is "Love" while "Kisses" appears on the plume that extends from the top of the chocolate treat.

"We are proud to host this event," said Sheila Grant, Manager, Hillyard Branch. "We expect this to be a very popular stamp and we invite everyone to stop by for a "Kiss!"

The "Love" stamps are available at all Post Offices nationwide, by calling 1-800-STAMP-24, or by going online to the Postal Store at www.usps.com/shop.

-30-

An independent federal agency, the Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses — six days a week and also has 37,000 retail locations. It relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. USPS has annual revenues of $73 billion and delivers more than 46 percent of the world's mail volume.