(June 9, 2016) Wild horses were not present, but even if they were, they wouldn’t have been able to drag away the 100-plus philatelists who watched the dedication of a new postage stamp bearing the signature animal of the Assateague Island National Seashore last Thursday.
They braved a not-so-beachy day to do so, with a light drizzle coming down and a fog lingering overhead, as workers set up a satellite link to the World Stamp Show in New York, which occurs only once every decade.
The stamp itself, depicting a pair of grazing wild Assateague ponies, was selected as one of 16 images honoring the National Parks Service on its 100-year anniversary.
“Thanks for joining us on this beautiful beach day,” USPS Chief Marketing and Sales Officer and Executive Vice President James P. Cochrane said. “A gray day at the beach beats a sunny day at work.”
Cochrane, a New Jersey native and self-professed “beach bum,” called Assateague “one of the most beautiful places in America – and one of its most-treasured national parks.”
“Today we’re doing more than issuing a new postage stamp – we’re here to honor the men and women of the National Parks Service,” he said. “The postal service is issuing a pane of 16 stamps today, and each depicts a location across America’s national parks system. These images and places they depict represent some of the very best of America.”
He said about 20,000 employees work at the 411 national parks, which last year drew roughly 300 million visitors.
About a dozen Assateague Rangers stood behind Cochrane as he spoke on the boardwalk entrance to the beach, near Bayberry Drive.
“[For] your commitment and dedication to this mission – to the great job you do every day for the American public – you also represent the very best of America,” he said. “The National Park Service is one of America’s greatest assets.
“The men and women of the National Parks Service preserve public treasures that extend beyond the stunning vistas and habitats for wildlife that we associate with our national parks. They provide public places for recreation, they manage museums, historical estates and they maintain our famous monuments,” he continued. “National Parks Service exemplifies our collective desire to preserve our connection to the land and nature and our heritage, and to maintain what we find beautiful in our world.”
Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan, speaking from New York, said separate ceremonies were being conducted in 14 national parks on that day. Assateague was apparently chosen as the sole park to do a “live check in” with during the World Stamp Show.
She called the park “a beautiful seafront location on the barrier islands between Virginia and Maryland … famous for its beaches, its dunes, camping and wild horses.”
“Miniature horses? No, there’s debate about that. The people upfront are shaking their finger at me,” she said, drawing laughs from the audience – both live and simulcast.
“What better stamp to unveil at the beginning of summer when so many of us are thinking about summer vacations at the beach?” she said.
Speaking to the national crowd, Cochrane joked that they “had horses here a little while ago.”
“We sent them a memo. They were all supposed to report here, but they didn’t listen,” he said.
Assateague Island National Seashore Superintendent Deborah Darden closed the proceedings, saying she had the “best job in the world,” because she got to go to the beach every day.
She said plans were developed in the early 1960’s, just before the park was established, to build houses “all the way to the Virginia line from the bay to the beach.”
After a huge storm, the community came together and convinced then President Lyndon B. Johnson to instead create a national park there.
Darden said Assateague was in the top-ten percent in the nation in visitation, drawing about 2.3 million people each year.
“People come for the great beaches, they come to fish, they come to clam, they come to oyster. A lot of people come for the incredible opportunity of driving on a wild beach,” she said. “And, of course, everyone comes for the horses. So many people read ‘Misty of Chincoteague’ as a young child and have loved these horses from afar and near.”
Darden said the wild horses of Assateague were just as iconic as the bison of Yellowstone, the elk at Rocky Mountain and the moose at Grand Teton.
“We’re just thrilled to have been included in this centennial stamp collection,” she said. “The stamp will take the story of Assateague to a new and broader audience, and I know everybody who looks at that stamp will think about what a wonderful place this park is.”
They braved a not-so-beachy day to do so, with a light drizzle coming down and a fog lingering overhead, as workers set up a satellite link to the World Stamp Show in New York, which occurs only once every decade.
The stamp itself, depicting a pair of grazing wild Assateague ponies, was selected as one of 16 images honoring the National Parks Service on its 100-year anniversary.
“Thanks for joining us on this beautiful beach day,” USPS Chief Marketing and Sales Officer and Executive Vice President James P. Cochrane said. “A gray day at the beach beats a sunny day at work.”
Cochrane, a New Jersey native and self-professed “beach bum,” called Assateague “one of the most beautiful places in America – and one of its most-treasured national parks.”
“Today we’re doing more than issuing a new postage stamp – we’re here to honor the men and women of the National Parks Service,” he said. “The postal service is issuing a pane of 16 stamps today, and each depicts a location across America’s national parks system. These images and places they depict represent some of the very best of America.”
He said about 20,000 employees work at the 411 national parks, which last year drew roughly 300 million visitors.
About a dozen Assateague Rangers stood behind Cochrane as he spoke on the boardwalk entrance to the beach, near Bayberry Drive.
“[For] your commitment and dedication to this mission – to the great job you do every day for the American public – you also represent the very best of America,” he said. “The National Park Service is one of America’s greatest assets.
“The men and women of the National Parks Service preserve public treasures that extend beyond the stunning vistas and habitats for wildlife that we associate with our national parks. They provide public places for recreation, they manage museums, historical estates and they maintain our famous monuments,” he continued. “National Parks Service exemplifies our collective desire to preserve our connection to the land and nature and our heritage, and to maintain what we find beautiful in our world.”
Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan, speaking from New York, said separate ceremonies were being conducted in 14 national parks on that day. Assateague was apparently chosen as the sole park to do a “live check in” with during the World Stamp Show.
She called the park “a beautiful seafront location on the barrier islands between Virginia and Maryland … famous for its beaches, its dunes, camping and wild horses.”
“Miniature horses? No, there’s debate about that. The people upfront are shaking their finger at me,” she said, drawing laughs from the audience – both live and simulcast.
“What better stamp to unveil at the beginning of summer when so many of us are thinking about summer vacations at the beach?” she said.
Speaking to the national crowd, Cochrane joked that they “had horses here a little while ago.”
“We sent them a memo. They were all supposed to report here, but they didn’t listen,” he said.
Assateague Island National Seashore Superintendent Deborah Darden closed the proceedings, saying she had the “best job in the world,” because she got to go to the beach every day.
She said plans were developed in the early 1960’s, just before the park was established, to build houses “all the way to the Virginia line from the bay to the beach.”
After a huge storm, the community came together and convinced then President Lyndon B. Johnson to instead create a national park there.
Darden said Assateague was in the top-ten percent in the nation in visitation, drawing about 2.3 million people each year.
“People come for the great beaches, they come to fish, they come to clam, they come to oyster. A lot of people come for the incredible opportunity of driving on a wild beach,” she said. “And, of course, everyone comes for the horses. So many people read ‘Misty of Chincoteague’ as a young child and have loved these horses from afar and near.”
Darden said the wild horses of Assateague were just as iconic as the bison of Yellowstone, the elk at Rocky Mountain and the moose at Grand Teton.
“We’re just thrilled to have been included in this centennial stamp collection,” she said. “The stamp will take the story of Assateague to a new and broader audience, and I know everybody who looks at that stamp will think about what a wonderful place this park is.”