You will soon be receiving your 2010 membership dues notice and ballot for the election of Officers and Board members.  We would appreciate your help in sending in your 2010 dues and ballots early before you become too busy with the holiday season.  You can also order a bound volume of the 2010 issues of The United States Specialist for delivery in 2011.

Please remember that The United States Specialist and USSS membership is on a calendar year basis.  To avoid missing an issue, please renew before the end of the year and take a $3 discount from yearly dues of $25.  Also beginning this year for your convenience, you can pay your dues online via PayPal.  Go to our website www.usstamps.org and click on “Renew.”

The Society has a Hardship Fund for those who are unable to pay their annual dues because of a job lay-off or any other hardships.  If you find yourself in one of these situations, let me know and I will see if we can arrange for your dues to be paid for 2010.  We don’t want to lose any members because of unfortunate circumstances beyond their control.

Many members give additional contributions for the work of our Society.  Their generosity allows our Society to continue development of new research papers, reprints and books.

We would like to recognize those members who contribute to the Sustaining, Contributing and Patron levels as well as those contributions to the Hardship Fund by listing their names in our journal.  If, however, you wish to contribute but remain anonymous, there is a place to so indicate on the dues notice.

Also on the dues notice, we are asking for your email address if you have one.  The email address (as well as your regular journal mailing address) is for use only by the United States Stamp Society.  We do not sell, trade or otherwise give out email or regular mail addresses.  They are strictly for internal use only.

Your Society’s operations require four to five weeks to process address changes and renewals prior to delivery of the next month’s issue of The Specialist.  When members do not renew until February or March, continuation of The Specialist is not guaranteed.  The restarting of the journal to a delinquent dues payer adds expense.  Please let us know if you plan to drop your membership and why, too.

—Larry Ballantyne
Executive Secretary