WARREN — Standing in line, waiting for her turn to purchase stamps and pick up boxes at the Warren Post Office on Tuesday, was city resident Deanna White.

“My cousin lives in Indiana and she couldn’t get things” there, so White sent packages from Warren.

She said she noticed that Tuesday was the last day for retail ground service packages to be sent in time to be received by Christmas.

The best present she’s received early couldn’t be shipped by the postal service, however: It’s her son, Isaiah, home for the holidays from a naval base in Louisiana, she said.

While making her stop at the post office, White also took the opportunity to purchase stamps to send out 40 Christmas cards.

She wasn’t going to send cards this year, but had a change of heart.

“I feel bad for the people” impacted by COVID-19, she said, as well as some elderly friends.

The cards could bring a little cheer to those who receive them, she added.

Also in line at the post office were mother-son duo Chris and Amy Booth, also of Warren.

They took packages to the post office with the intent to send them to loved ones across the country.

They were sending items to “California, Alaska, pretty much everywhere,” Chris said.

Tuesday was the second day in a row that they tried sending the parcels, having experienced a few hiccups with printing their labels at home.

“The printer didn’t work, but we thought it did,” Amy said.

For the Booths, they are sticking with “the old school way” of sending packages in person at the post office, Chris said.

Shortly after the Booths spoke with a clerk at the post office, Warren resident Jim Laux stood in line with a box for his daughter in California.

He said the process was easy “with no problem,” with the outgoing package ready with a hand-written address.

He has sent multiple packages to California this year.

Making sure to keep a distance from others and wearing his mask, Laux said: “I’m willing to enter ‘the COVID zone'” to send the packages to his daughter.

A slight delay has been observed due to COVID-19, said Wendy Daugherty, postmaster in Warren. Still, the local post office is working to get packages out same-day.

The location on High Street NE is averaging between 3,000 to 4,000 packages daily, with 62 routes, seven of which are rural.

The Warren post office receives its mail from Youngstown, which receives it from Cleveland with no delays, Daugherty said.

She said for anyone trying to send parcels, get them in the mail as early as possible.

To help make the process as easy as possible, Daugherty suggested having parcels addressed and sealed.

Customers can use the Clip and Ship process to print labels from home. People can also request to have packages picked up at their homes, which can help minimize exposure to to COVID-19 and keep lines down, Daugherty said.

Holiday shipping deadlines

USPS retail ground service: Tuesday, Dec. 15

First-class mail service: Friday, Dec. 18

Priority Mail service: Saturday, Dec. 19

Priority Mail Express service: Wednesday, Dec. 23

Excluding Alaska and Hawaii

Source: U.S. Postal Service