Pony Express group offers commemorative stamp for holiday cards | The Sacramento Bee

Have any history lovers on your holiday card list? You might want to send them a card via the Pony Express.

The National Pony Express Association’s California Division will conduct its annual Christmas Card Ride on Dec. 13, and anyone submitting a card with regular postage can have it carried by the riders and stamped with a commemorative seal before being transferred to the U.S. Postal Service for a more modern delivery method to the recipient’s home.

The city of Rancho Cordova announced that cards can be dropped off at the reception lobby of Rancho Cordova City Hall, 2729 Prospect Park Drive, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., by Dec. 5. Other drop-off locations include the Sacramento History Museum and Folsom History Museum, according to the association’s website.

The Dec. 13 event celebrates the postal service that delivered mail between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento for 18 months starting in 1860.

The association’s riders will carry the mail from the Folsom History Museum to the Sacramento History Museum in Old Sacramento. The riders will stop along the way at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery at 11 a.m., the Sunrise footbridge at 11:35 a.m. and River Bend Park at 12:45 p.m. The public is invited to watch.