Montreal - Did you know that the Powerscourt bridge in Athelstan, Quebec, rebuilt in 1861 is Canada's oldest covered bridge? To immortalize this precious gem of our heritage, Canada Post issued a special cancellation based on a drawing provided by the Quebec Covered Bridges Society.
Anyone interested in a copy of the special cancellation can bring their envelopes to be canceled to Athelstan Postal Outlet at the following address:
D.N. Racine Postal Outlet, 2899 de la Rivière Road, Athelstan Qc J0S 1A0
The postal outlet is open from Monday to Friday, 8 :00 AM to 5 :30 PM and on Saturdays, 8 :00 AM to 4 :00 PM (on Saturdays, between December and April, from 8 :00 AM to noon). You can also get copy of the cancellation by writing to the above-mentioned address.
How to proceed by mail:
The personnel at the counter will be pleased to place the special cancellation on your stamped envelopes before returning them to you in the return envelope you will have enclosed to this end.
For all questions on Athelstan's covered bridge, please visit the Web site of the Quebec Covered Bridges Society at www.angelfire.com/pq/sqpc.
For information: Johanne Hallé, Communications, Montreal, (514) 345-4573 or johanne.halle@canadapost.ca
[U.S. residents should check with their local post office for cross border postal rates. Our thanks to Gerald Arbour and David Guay for forwarding this article. Ed.]