Christmas honour for French River town

SUDBURY -

Christmas has come early for the town of Noelville.

Located within the French River area, the community has been chosen to be featured as part of this year's limited-edition holiday commemorative stamp set.

The name Noelville will be featured in the cancellation mark that comes with everyone's mail and there will only be 7,000 sets produced.

Canada Post Director of Stamp Services Bronwyn Graves says some will be available for purchase in Noelville itself while the rest will be distributed nationwide.

"This year we have a series of illustrations that will focus on Santa, an elf, and Rudolph and to go with those there is some called an official first-day cover. An official first-day cover is basically a collector's envelope and it features in the corner a holiday stamp and something in the corner called a 'cancel,' so that's basically the postmark that shows it's been processed through your post office," Graves explained.

"For these collectibles, these first-day covers, we always choose a postmark that is someway connected to the story so we're looking for a place that has a Canada Post Post Office but also a connection to the story," she said.

Noelville, having Noel in its name made the community an obvious connection.

Canada Post has been doing the holiday stamp since 1964 and it's unclear if the community has ever been chosen before.

"Stamp collectors love the first-day covers because they are a collectible and it's an opportunity to tell the story that we are trying to tell within the stamp. First-day covers often include a little bit art," said Graves.

Christmas Island, Nova Scotia has also been chosen along with Vancouver for the Asaki baseball team and Montreal for the Leanard Cohen tribute.

French River (Noelville) Mayor Gisele Pageau says it's an incredible honour.

"I think that's wonderful," said Pageau. "It honours not only our town but Noel Desmarais who was the first merchant here in Noelville ... but I have to tell you picking the town is a magical thing because magical things happen here at Christmas time."

The mayor says they're planning to have a parade of lights at the end of the month. She calls it a time for celebration and reflection in the community.

"They (citizens) are going to be absolutely thrilled, I'm sure there's going to be line ups at the Post Office to get these stamps. My understanding is that it's a limited edition so I'm sure everyone here will go down to at least get a stamp or two or a dozen. I love it because I use them with my Christmas cards," she said.

The stamps and the first-day covers with Noelville are available now through the website or at postal outlets across the country.