By Albert Lea Tribune

The citizens of Minnesota got a sneak preview of the 2008 sesquicentennial celebration when the design of the stamp commemorating the state&8217;s 150th anniversary was unveiled.

The United States Postal Service partnered with the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission and Winona State University for the unveiling ceremony, held Saturday at the Science Laboratory Atrium in Stark Hall at Winona State.

The stamp will be issued in 2008.

&8220;It is a great privilege to pay tribute to our state with this gorgeous commemorative stamp,&8221; said USPS Northland District Manager Anthony C. Williams.

He said the stamp was chosen from 50,000 ideas, which were then narrowed down to 25 finalists.

Other featured speakers included Sesquicentennial Commission Vice-Chairwoman Reatha Clark King and WSU President Judith Ramaley.

The stamp design features a photograph made by Richard Hamilton Smith at the city of Winona, in southeastern Minnesota. Winona was settled in 1851 and was once a major shipping center for wheat and lumber. By 1860, about 2,500 people resided in Winona, making it one of the largest towns in Minnesota at the time.

Today&8217;s population is almost 30,000. The view in the photograph is to the northwest. In the foreground is the Minnesota Highway 34 bridge spanning the main channel of the Mississippi River. Minnesota was admitted to the Union as the 32nd state on May 11, 1858.

The islands above the bridge in the photo are part of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, which extends 261 miles along the Mississippi from Wabasha to Rock Island, Ill.

Minnesota was admitted to the Union as the 32nd state on May 11, 1858; previously, its 86,939 square miles had been part of a large territory that stretched westward from the Wisconsin border to the Missouri River in the future states of North and South Dakota.

The name &8220;Minnesota&8221; derives from Dakota Indian words originally used to describe the color of the Minnesota River. Over the years, people have offered various interpretations of the state&8217;s name, from &8220;whitish or cloudy water&8221; to the more evocative &8220;sky-blue or sky-tinted waters.&8221;

In any case, Minnesota is a land of water, with thousands of lakes and rivers lying within or along its borders. Among the most notable are the Mississippi River, Lake Superior, Lake Itasca and Lake of the Woods, whose northwestern shore is the northernmost point of land in the lower 48 states. There are well-known waterfalls, too, including &8220;the beautiful falls of Minnehaha,&8221; said by writer Mark Twain to be &8220;sufficiently celebrated, they do not need a lift from me.&8221; Pictures of these falls reportedly inspired Henry Wadsworth Longfellow during the writing of his epic poem &8220;The Song of Hiawatha.&8221;

Today, more than 5 million people live in Minnesota. The people of Minnesota enjoy a strong, diverse economy; major products include timber, iron ore, and agricultural crops. Education and health care are among the best in the nation.