Fourteen full-time and six as-needed Batesville post office employees might be working overtime this month.

“As the advertising (catalogs) slow down, first class (mail) and parcels really pick up,” said Postmaster Marsha Boyer.

Instead of dreading the holiday season, she looks at December as “kind of an exciting time. To see what the carriers and window clerks are able to do” amazes the veteran who already has worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Cincinnati for 24 years. “They’re just so good at what they do.”

Boyer hasn’t noticed an avalanche of Christmas cards yet. “It’s just too soon. Most people procrastinate.”

There are two types of 2009 Christmas stamps, a traditional Madonna and sleeping child (the original painting by an Italian named Sassoferrato hangs in William Randolph Hearst’s California castle); and five each of a contemporary reindeer, snowman, gingerbread man and tin soldier in a book of 20.

Although not as much in demand, the local office also stocks Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Eid-Ul-Adha (a Muslim festival) stamps.

The Web site www.usps.com specifies cut-off dates to insure delivery before Christmas Day. They range from Nov. 13-Dec. 18 for military mail, Dec. 4-22 for international mail and Dec. 16-23 for domestic mail, depending on the geographic location and how much customers want to pay.

“In Batesville, people are used to bringing it by and saying, ‘Deliver this tomorrow.’ We can’t anymore,” according to Boyer.

“Everything has to go to Cincinnati to be sorted,” even if it’s mailed from Batesville to another Batesville address. “The whole process has really changed. Equipment, not people, sort. We need to work efficiently.” It should take at most three days for a holiday greeting to make its way anywhere in the United States.

Customers can help the process along. The most common error is putting the wrong ZIP code on an address. The postmaster noted, “I grew up in Cincinnati, I live in Harrison and work in Batesville. When I go to address something, I’ll maybe put the right city and state ... but I’ll put my ZIP code” or vice versa.

“A lot of people do not put their return address on their mail.” Then if an address is wrong, the letter or package ends up in the dead letter office where it could languish for days – or forever. Workers have the time-consuming task of opening items to try to determine senders, perhaps from addresses on checks.

Customers also should lose the doctor’s scrawl and write legibly. “You wouldn’t believe how many times” workers are fooled. “A 2 looks like 9, a 1 looks like 7.”

Boyer believed the easy-to-navigate Web site is “one of the best things my company has ever done for the public.”

If someone wants to know how much it will cost to send a box to “Aunt Millie in Florida by express, priority or parcel post, it’s right there in front of you.”

“We have free boxes in our lobby all the time,” she pointed out. “We try to keep it stocked,” refilling the supply daily. A person can take those home, print out a shipping label with postage applied and request a pickup online as well. “Set parcels in a secure location” and a carrier will pick them up as mail is delivered.

The Web site can be a time-saver in other ways as well. People can look up ZIP codes and complete vacation holds.

They even can change their addresses for $1. The money, “the best dollar they will ever spend,” is used for verification.

A resident mailing an international item can print out and finish a customs form at home instead of holding up the line at the counter.

The Web site saves money, too. For instance, delivery confirmation is free if purchased online vs. 70 cents at the office. A large box at the flat rate is $13.50 on the Web site instead of $13.95 at the Batesville site.