There still may be time

Procrastinators and last-minute Santa Clauses can still probably get holiday mail to their loved ones in time — if they act quickly. Any further delay is strongly discouraged. "The earlier, the better," said Sparta Postmaster Mary Jane Younger.

For mailing packages, she said, "If they mail it priority mail, there's still a good chance it's going to make it, even if it's as late at Friday (Dec. 21). Parcel post would be iffy."

Younger explained that priority mail is sent by air, parcel post by truck. She therefore recommended priority mail. Express mail is even surer; "most places in the country, it's guaranteed overnight, even Christmas Day," she said.

"We'll actually be here delivering mail on Christmas." Similarly, for cards, Younger said, those mailed by Friday will probably reach their destination by Christmas, as mail continues to move over the weekend. She hesitated to give delayers too much encouragement, however.

She also offered the following mailing tips to help as well:

• Print addresses rather than writing them in cursive. "The machines read them better; they go through faster."
• Green or red envelopes are discouraged. "They're really pretty, but the machines can't read them, so they don't go through as fast." White envelopes are the best bet.
• Remember to use zip codes.
• "Please use return addresses. If we can't deliver them, at least we can get it back to them (the senders)."

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