APRIL IS NATIONAL LETTER WRITING MONTH
Every April, the United States Post Office declares this month National Letter Writing Month. People of all ages are urged to send personal letters to friends, especially those with whom they have not contacted for awhile. Get out your writing tools and hav your familiy members to some letters too. April is not over yet.

Since this is also National Poetry Month, here is a short poem about letter writing:

To write a good letter, take a handful of grit,
A plenty of time and a little of wit;
Take patience to "set" it, and stir it all up
With the ladle of energy. Then fill a cup
With kind thoughts and helpful thoughts, merry thoughts too.
With bright words, and wise words, and words strong and true.
Mix all these together, and then add for spice
Some good news, some funny news, all news that's nice.
Then seal with a love kiss and stamp it with care;
Direct to your friend's heart, and presto! 'tis there.
NEW LETTER WRITING BOOK FOR CHILDREN

To celebrate Letter Writing Month, you might want to purchase a book by author Emerson Weber, a very talented eleven-year-old, and written for children ages 4 to 8 entitled Sincerely Emerson, A Girl, Her Letter, and the Helpers All Around Us. It is wonderfully illustrated by Jaclyn Sinquett. Check your local bookstore.
DID YOU HAVE A PEN PAL?
When you were young, did you have a Pen Pal?Perhaps, even in this age of email, you still have one and exchange letters regulary?
Here is a recent news story from the BBC about a man who found his Irish Pen Pal he had lost touch with seventy years ago. Click here:PenPal

And speaking of finding someone after many years, this recent CNN story tells an interesting tale of a woman searching for a long lost person from World War II. It has to do with this postcard found in an antiqlue shop. Take a look at the story: Postcard

OPEN AIR OPEN HOUSE JUNE 19
Join us between 1:00 – 3:00 PM for a tented gathering to celebrate Spring and the safe reopening of the Museum coming soon.
There will be refreshments, guided small group tours of the updated exhibit spaces and you can meet with the Museum leadership, fellow members and other friends of the Museum. Free packets of stamps and First Day Covers.
For more information or to RSVP, contact openhouse.
ANSWER TO OUR LAST TRIVIA QUESTION
Th stamp of Dennis Chavez, the first American-born Hispanic person to be elected to the US Senate, caused a philtelic controversy that went all the way to Congress when it was issued in 1991. The cause of the conflict is that the stamp was printed in Canada. Only one other stamp has been printed there. It is the stamp honoring Earl Warren and was part of the same series as the Chavez stamp. We thank all the people who sent us the correct answer.
HISTORY OF THE USPS
INSPECTION SERVICES
Did you know that in the 1990s there was a show on television about the Postal Inspection Services entitled The Inspectors.  It was the only show on commercial television paid for by a U.S. government agency, with its funding coming from the United States Postal Service asset forfeiture and consumer fraud awareness funds. The half-hour series ran from October 3, 2015 to May 25, 2019, and aired on Saturday mornings on CBS as part of the network's Dream Team Saturday morning three-hour block of children's programming.

The Post Office recently produced an excellent video about the history of the service going all the way back to Ben Franklin. Click on this link to view this informative show. You will be surprised how much postal history is involved. Inspectors

STAMP COLLECTING
THEN AND NOW

One of our members sent us a recent article from Buffalo with interviews of collectors attending a local stamp show. Their comments were about how they started collecting, some of them over sixty or seventy years ago, and how they have seen stamp shows and stamp clubs change over the years. Many of these comments will sound familiar to other collectors. Take a look with this link: Club
SHARE A POSTAL PHOTO
In our last newsletter, we asked people to send us a photo or two of an interesting postal item such as an unusual mailbox, an amusing postal sign, a postal building or some other item. Joe Kowalski from Wapun, Wisconsin sent this old UK pillar box he saw in the back alley of a meat market in tiny Eden, Wisconsin. Notice the British telephone booth as well. We wonder how both items got there.
As you travel this spring and summer, keep on the lookout for items our readers would enjoy seeing. Read about the connection between the British pllar box and noted novelist Anthony Trollope. box.

An interesting story about Wapun is that in 1945 it was selected for the site of a German POW camp. Despite public opposition, the camp was constructed next to the local canning factory. The prisoners were brought to Wisconsin to relieve deficits of manpower in the area factories and farms. There were about 200 POWs at the Waupun camp who were assigned to work either for Canned Foods Inc. in Waupun or Stokely Foods in Brandon, Wisconsin.
Interestingly, in 1851, Wisconsin's first governor appointed a three-member prison commission to select a site for what would be named the Wisconsin State Prison. Waupun was chosen due to its close proximity to the proposed Rock River Valley Railroad and the abundance of good quality limestone for prison construction. The first permanent building was completed in 1854. The Correctional Institution is still in operation today.
A post office in Eden was established in 1850 and was named after either the Garden of Eden or after John Eden, an early settler. Wisconsin became a state in 1848.
MEDICINE ON STAMPS
A ZOOM PROGRAM ON MAY 19

Education Director Henry Lukas will be presenting a Zoom program on Wednesday , May 19 at 7:00 for the Public Health Museum in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. The theme for his Powerpoint is "Medicine on Stamps - Staying Healthy With Philately". If you would like to get the zoom link, email to medicine.
TAKE OUR VIRTUAL TOURS
Have you taken our virtual tours of the Museum's main gallery and the exhibit on the celebration of the 19th amendment?
Click on our website to reach the YouTube links: tour
Over 1000 people have already taken the gallery tour.
Please click to see what they have seen.
ZOOM PROGRAMS STILL AVAILABLE

Our one hour PowerPoint program entitled "Pushing the Envelope - A History of the US Post Office Through Stamps" is still available for presentation at libraries, senior centers, stamp clubs and other adult groups.
For institutions that are starting to have live programs again, Education Director Henry Lukas can visit to present the program. For more details email to zoom.
YOUTH CLUB MEMBERSHIP OPEN 
The Museum continues to offer a free, one year membership for children ages 6 to 16 in our Youth Club. Children receive a monthly packet of topical stamps, worksheets and philatelic information, a discount in the Museum store, a monthly stamp calendar plus free admission for themselves and the family. For more information email to Club.
Thanks go to Museum volunteers Jessica Leuscher and Erika Epstein for supervising this program
FREE EDUCATIONAL CALENDAR
If you would like to receive our monthly calendar/almanac that features stamps which celebrate historic events of each weekday of the month, email to calendar.
Have an environmentally friendly EARTH DAY
Recycle stamps you don't want by donating them to the Museum.
CAN YOU GIVE US A HAND?

Although we have been closed, we have still continued sharing our educational programs electronically and creating exhibits to be shared with all of our enthusiasts, young and old. We thank all those who have already recently supported us.
We ask others of you if you can also please support our efforts by going to the bottom on our webpage (click webpage) and clicking on the donate button. A $50 contribution will give you a one year individual membership.
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