The 2009 Annual Meeting is only a few weeks away.  The United States Stamp Society meeting will be held in conjunction with the St. Louis Stamp Expo, a joint effort of the stamp clubs of St. Louis, Missouri and surrounding communities.

The USSS will gather during the weekend of February 27th through March 1st at the St. Louis Renaissance Hotel, 9801 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, Missouri.  The hotel is offering special rates of $85 per night.  Reservations may be made by calling the hotel at (314) 429-1100 or (800) 468-3571.

The show will include an American Philatelic Society World Series of Philately exhibit competition, which will include more than 100 frames of United States and related material presented by USSS members.  In addition to the normal range of awards available at all WSP shows, eligible exhibits will also compete for the prestigious Southgate and Hopkinson Trophies, which are presented only at the show hosting the Annual Meeting of the Society.

On Friday, we will hold the Society’s traditional Annual Fellowship Dinner, which is always one of the highlights of our Annual Meeting.  This year we will be dining buffet style at Lombardo’s Restaurant located at 10488 Natural Bridge Road, just one mile from the show hotel.  A sign-up sheet will be available at the USSS booth.  We will gather the troops as the show closes at 6:00 PM and head out for an enjoyable dinner and an evening of fellowship.

On Saturday, the Board Meeting for Governors, Officers, employees of the Society and Committee Chairmen will be held from 8 AM to 10 AM prior to the opening of the show.  Our annual General Membership meeting will be held at 1 PM.  The meeting will update the membership on the business of the Society, and Membership Recognition Award pins will be presented, as well as several other awards.  The full schedule of all the show events is available on the show website, www.stlouisstampexpo.org.  The show and all of the events will take place on-site at the hotel.

One of the highlights of the show will be the release of the latest USSS publication, United States Supplementary Mail by our own Specialist editor, Len Piszkiewicz.  The hardbound 140-page book will be available to USSS members for the discounted price of only $32.00.  [Preorders available NOW. -ML]  Based upon the sixteen part series that appeared in The United States Specialist during 2007 and 2008, the book will present previously unpublished information and examples.  This volume will be a must for any collector or exhibitor of United States postal history.  And as an added bonus, Len will be on hand at the show to autograph copies for you.

The Society will have a booth at the show for the purposes of selling our publications, promoting the Society, recruiting new members and socializing with fellow U.S. collectors.  Please contact me if you are willing to help staff the table.  We could really use the help and any time you could spare will be greatly appreciated.  In addition to those who volunteer, we will also have our officers, Board members, Committee chairs and authors helping out.  This will be the place to meet old friends and make new ones.

We look forward to seeing a large contingent of our members at this great show.  A good time is sure to be had by all.

—Nick Lombardi
President