Wrap up the shipping: Today is final day to have U.S.-bound First Class Mail delivered by Christmas

Last-minute shopping is hitting the home stretch at area retailers, but last-minute holiday shipping is crossing the finish line for those who want to get packages across the country by Christmas.

Today is the final day to have U.S.-bound First Class Mail packages delivered by the U.S. Postal

Service by Dec. 25, and Tuesday and Wednesday mark the Priority Mail and Express Mail deadlines.

From high stacks of holiday cards to packages offering Christmas cheer, people were lined up at the Jackson Crossing post office Saturday morning attempting to get gifts out of their hands and into the dispatch cycle.

Jackson resident Duane Mroczka was mailing out a pair of present-filled packages to family in Utah.

“I can’t really tell you why today was the day to get them out, other than my wife is the head of this stuff and she had a game plan,” he said with a smile. “She was working all day and left me with a to-do list, so I was just helping her out.”

He said he thought the post office was efficient, and things went better than he imagined they might a week before Christmas.

Teresa Soltis of Parma also was sending some “Christmas goodies” to family out West on Saturday, when she received a quick lesson on Priority Mailing.

Hoping to get the packages in relatives’ hands before Dec. 25 Soltis utilized the expedited Priority service but found out she had the wrong boxes for the “flat rate service.”

“When I got to the desk, they told me the package must say ‘flat rate’ on it to be eligible for that, and these packages I got from another post office didn’t say that,” she said. “So we’ve just got to swap the things out with these packages they gave me, and everything should be good to go.”

More holiday shipping tips and local post office hours are available at www.usps.com.

The Details
The main Jackson Post Office, 113 W. Michigan Ave., will be open until 3 p.m. Friday and Dec. 31 for the holiday season.

Mail delivery will remain the same on those days, according to a news release.

Mail can be deposited into the blue collection mailboxes before noon Saturday and Dec. 31 for early pickup.

Offices will be closed Saturday and January 1.  They will be open at regular hours on Dec. 27 and Jan. 3.

For more information, call 800-275-8777.
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As published in the Jackson Citizen Patriot on Dec. 20, 2010