On-the-Water Cancellations and Postal Stations

The first on-the-water theme of the USPS Building Bridges Special Postal Cancellation series was conducted on land, at the Berkeley Yacht Club, by the Berkeley Postmaster and Leonora Clark, the Commodore (rank) of the Pacific Inter-Club Yachting Organization, a retired United States Postal Service Postmaster, paired with the new release of the Global surface temperatures Forever Stamp.^[16]

For the 100th Anniversary of the Opening Day on the San Francisco Bay in 2017, there were two Building Bridges postal stations: one in San Francisco and one in Oakland. On April 23, 2017, the San Francisco Station and the Postmaster were on the Californian of Hornblower Cruises, but the majority of the hand stamps were done at the dock of Pier 1 1/2 and for the 30 days after at the local post office. The Oakland Building Bridges Postal Station was done on the dock of Jack London Square where the ceremony was held, but the Oakland Postmaster Daryl Trujillo was aboard the Lady Washington. The Pacific Inter-Club Yachting Association (PICYA) helped commemorate the event, bringing 100 vessels consisting of yachts, power boats, ships and a fire boat.. The open and close of the celebration featured a Tall Ship Cannon Battle between the Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftain.^[17][18][19]

Two years later, on April 21, 2019, the cancellation took place two days after a cannon battle on Pier 39 at Sports Byline USA broadcast studio. The actual Postmaster Ceremony with San Francisco Postmaster Abraham Cooper was broadcast on the network's 10 platforms including 200 US satellite radio stations and the 500 radio stations of the American Forces Network to 168 countries.^[20] It was broadcast to 82 million people in 168 Countries and on the American Forces Network by Sports Byline USA.^[21][22]

The Eureka cancellation was the first time the series moved up the Pacific Coast.^[23]

The Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain had planned a battle sail in Eureka as part of the celebration,^[24] but the Lady Washington was delayed due to weather conditions on the coast and so the Hawaiian Chieftain ship itself became the Building Bridges Postal Station for the ceremony with Eureka's Mayor Susan Seaman receiving the first inked cancellation.^[23][25]

Music History Cancellations and Postal Stations

Fantasy Studios closed its doors September 15, 2018,^[26][27] as part of a trend of studio closings happening over a period of years.^[28] News of the closing of Fantasy Studios went global and recording artists who had recorded there were in mourning at its loss on radio, TV^[29] and in the newspapers.^[30]

Lile, upon finishing the last music recording^[31] at Fantasy Studios for a special KCSM (FM) Jazz^[32] Benefit album featuring Kendall Ross Bean and 60 musicians, including Grammy Award Winners, designed a new theme of the USPS Building Bridges Special Postal Cancellation, recognizing all the recordings that had been preserved over the years in the city of Berkeley, California, and then later in the City of San Francisco. The Berkeley Cancellation had a typo and read 70 years, instead of 80 years. The oldest recording found to date in Berkeley was in 1938.^[33]

Building Bridges During the Pandemic

In 2021, USPS announced that the theme of Building Bridges will continue to cities on both the west and east coast.^[2] The first of the 2021 series happened on February 18, 2021, at the Treasure Island Museum commemorating the Opening day of the Golden Gate International Exposition in 1939. It includes the Treasure Island Museum logo, the logo of The Bicentennial of the Independence of Peru and an illustration of Peru's Tall Ship BAP Unión. Because of the pandemic, only 12 people were allowed to be at the event including the filmmakers. So, the ceremony was filmed and then broadcast to the public on an event website in cooperation with all the public sector, private sector and community sector partners involved. Speakers included San Francisco Postmaster Abraham Cooper, Consul General of Peru in List of diplomatic missions of Peru, Hernando Torres-Fernandes, Treasure Island Museum President Mike Hennahane, Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association Commodore Patti Mangan, Treasure Island Yacht Club Vice Commodore Will Smith and Karen Earle Lile. The ceremony began with a flag raising ceremony at Treasure Island Yacht Club and then continued at Treasure Island Museum with the speakers, continued with a ceremonial sail of the Consul General of Peru on the boat Sandpiper and two days later was concluded with a Pacific Rim Unity Parade of 51 sail and power boats around Treasure Island. Seven commemorative postal caches were created for receiving the postal cancellation^[39]

Air Mail Cancellations and Postal Stations

From May 10, 2022, to May 16, 2022, 5 cancellations in 3 cities honored the 110th Anniversary of Glenn L. Martin’s flight from Balboa Pier to Newport Beach, the 1938 National Airmail Week celebrated across the nation and on Catalina Island with Glenn Martin present, and the progress of International Air Mail, at LAX airport, one of the largest centers for shipping International Airmail in the world.^[1]