The U.S. Postal Service will celebrate a new 44-cent stamp featuring the lovable comic strip character Beetle Bailey at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Beetle Bailey Statue outside the Donald W. Reynolds Alumni Center. The free event, open to the public, is co-sponsored by the Mizzou Botanic Garden, Mizzou Alumni Association, MU Army ROTC and the Central Missouri Postal Customer Council.
The ceremony will also celebrate the 11th anniversary of the Mizzou Botanic Garden.
Cheryl Hudson, customer relations coordinator for the Columbia Post Office, said the U.S Postal Service knew about Mort Walker, BA ’48, who created the comic strip in 1950. The service was also familiar with the history of The Shack, a hangout frequented by Walker during his student days at MU, and of the sculpture of Bailey that greets visitors entering the Reynolds Alumni Center.
The stamp, featuring Bailey smiling calmly while his supervisor, Sgt. Snorkel, loses his cool, was issued July 16 as part of the “Sunday Funnies Series.”