Pinata Festival an interesting choice for stamp ceremony location

Philatelic Foreword by Jay Bigalke

The enthusiasm of the dance troupe Asi Se Baila Ballet Folklorico helped build a crowd to kick off the start of the 36th annual Pinata Festival Sept. 8 in Roswell, N.M.

That excitement helped motivate a crowd of almost 300 to attend the first-day-of-issue ceremony for the new Pinatas forever stamps, which Linn’s reported on in the Sept. 4 issue, page 8.

“It’s amazing what has happened in all this time and we’re finally having a stamp dedication to one of the happiest events children can ever have at a party —and that’s breaking the pinata,” said Tim Jennings, mayor of Roswell, who thanked the United States Postal Service for choosing Roswell to host the ceremony.

Numerous families and young children were there for the stamp ceremony, which was really great to see.

The event started around 6 p.m. local time and lasted approximately 45 minutes. The ceremony was outdoors, and even with the temperature at around 100 degrees, people wanted to be there.

The USPS retail booth was set up nearby and stayed open through Saturday, Sept. 9, at the festival to sell additional stamps. That was a nice strategy because the Postal Service usually only sells stamps on the day of the ceremony.

My only disappointment was not seeing a pinata break on Friday night at the festival. A pinata was hanging from a large forklift nearby, but I was told that it would be cracked open on Saturday. That was a missed opportunity for the stamp event.

The first-day ceremony helped kick off National Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. I’m sure the new Pinatas forever stamps will be popular with the mailing public.

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