CABOT -- This Lonoke County city celebrated a once-in-a-century event Thursday, when their ZIP code matched the date.
The United States Postal Service created a custom postmark stamp to commemorate the day -- July 20, 2023 -- at the Cabot Post Office. Custom Ink Stamp
Julie Chudy, customer relations coordinator with the U.S. Post Office, said this special occurrence will always be in July for Arkansas since all of its ZIP codes start with the number seven.
"We have Cabot today [Thursday], we have Patterson tomorrow [Friday], the Little Rock Chenal station on Saturday and Concord, Arkansas, on Tuesday," Chudy said. "They all have a special postmark. You bring in your envelopes and your postcards, it does have to have proper postage, and you can get this special cancellation. It only happens, like I said, once a century, so none of us should ever see it again."
Many postcard collectors from all over the United States and other countries will send in envelopes to be stamped, she added.
The stamps are available for 30 days, which started Thursday.
Many area businesses and restaurants are offering discounts for the day to celebrate.
The symbol on the stamp includes a picture of two strawberries to highlight Cabot's fresh strawberries and strawberry festival that out-of-towners drive miles for, Crystal Rider, Cabot Postmaster, said.
"It made me proud that we could put that idea out there and let them know that it's something from the whole community to be proud of," she added.
If any Cabot residents or other customers at the post office have issues, Rider said she wants them to know that they will go out of their way to make things right.
"I received a card from somebody that moved away from here and was having trouble with their forward and she wrote to me and thanked me because we've been so helpful to get it taken care of," she said. "That is one of the things -- if they have issues, I like for them to come and let me know because I want to handle those issues."
Chudy said the Post Office employees are there to give users a positive experience.
The Cabot Post Office is at 200 E. Main St. and its retail hours are 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and 8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Saturdays.
Patterson, a city in Cleburne County, will have its stamps available at the post office for 30 days after today, as will Little Rock and Concord per their Date Meets Zip day.
The Little Rock Chenal Post Office is at 815 Technology Drive, which is off Chenal Parkway in west Little Rock). It is open from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday and 9:15 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekdays, according to the U.S. Post Office website. The Concord Post Office is at 10845 Heber Springs Road North. It is open from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. weekdays and 7:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. Saturdays, according to the website.
Print Headline: Cabot celebrates date matching ZIP
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