There must be something about Pittsburgh in August because the Society had one of its best turnouts at any show in recent memory.  More than 100 members converged on the David L. Lawrence Convention Center on the banks of the Allegheny River for four days of philatelic fun and fellowship.  The U.S. Stamp Society was well represented in virtually every aspect of the show.

Our members came to the show from across the country and around the world.  Wout Janse traveled from the Netherlands and Don Chenevert, Jr. came from India with his son, James, who is one of three young collectors selected to participate in the APS 2009-2010 Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship program.  At the awards banquet on Saturday evening, it was announced that 15 year old Miss Melissa Stanton of Knoxville, PA had been selected as the United States Stamp Society Fellow for the upcoming year.  I was pleased to learn that Melissa will pursue the Author tract within the program, which meshes perfectly with the Society’s strong tradition of philatelic research and writing.  When Melissa stopped by our booth on Sunday, we gave her a number of our publications to start her off.  She also received a complimentary membership for the duration of her fellowship and we hope to see her at our next Annual Meeting.

The second annual United States Stamp Society – Barbara R. Mueller Award for the best article in The American Philatelist during a single year was also presented at the awards banquet. The winner of the award is determined by the APS members and AP staff along with a selection committee. It was an honor for me to make the presentation to Tom Broadhead for his article “Petite Messages – The Development of Carte de Visite Mail in Nineteenth Century France” as Barbara looked on from her table.

Speaking of publications, the authors of our two most recent books both received high honors at the show.  Steve Belasco received a Gold Medal in the Literature Competition for his book, Guide To United States Vending And Affixing Machine Perforations 1907-1927, while on Saturday morning our editor, Len Piszkiewicz, received the United States Philatelic Classics Society’s coveted Stanley B. Ashbrook Cup Award for his book United States Supplementary Mail.  Congratulations to both of these fine researchers and authors!

During the course of the show, it was a privilege for me to present our Membership Recognition Pins to five of our longtime members.  Dr. A. John Rose traveled from Beachwood, Ohio to receive his 50 Year pin.  Leonard McMaster received his 25 Year pin, and 15 Year pins were presented to Joseph G. Bock, David Grossblat, and Arnold H. Selengut.  Members who were unable to pick up their pins in either St. Louis or Pittsburgh will receive them by mail in the near future.  A sincere “Thank You” goes along with each of these pins.

Six of our members were recognized by the APS for their philatelic volunteer work.  Jerry Kasper and Jay Stotts each received a Nicholas G. Carter Volunteer Recognition Award for their work at the national level.  James G. Boyles and Charles A. Wood each received the award for efforts at the local level.  Daniel A. Piazza and Alex Haimann were named “Outstanding Young Adult Philatelist” and “Outstanding Young Philatelist,” respectively.

This year the Champion of Champions competition was made up of 28 grand award winners.  The Society took great pride in having three members among this elite group.  Gerry Farrelly, Greg Hopkins, Sr., and John Hotchner each deserve a round of applause for their exhibiting efforts.  Many other Society members participated in the open competition and their exhibits were truly impressive.

As is our tradition at StampShow, the Society organized a Dutch Treat dinner.  Thirty-seven members gathered at August Henry’s City Saloon on Friday evening for good food and great fellowship.  Unfortunately, several additional members had to be turned away due to lack of seating, which was the result of several factors for which I sincerely apologize. We will institute a new sign-up system at future shows.

On behalf of the Society, I’d like to thank all of those who helped to make our StampShow experience a success.  A special thanks goes to Joann and Kurt Lenz, who anchored the booth for us.  Also pitching in were Bob Thomas, Larry Ballantyne, Bob Rufe, Mike Lampson, Jeff Shapiro, Rod Juell, David Eeles, Denise Stotts, and probably a few more who were there when I wasn’t.  Doug Drumheller of Pittsburgh also deserves our gratitude for doing a lot of our advance work.  Our “Unsung Hero Award” again goes to Tom Jacks of Mountainside Stamps for transporting our publications and booth materials to and from the show, thereby saving us a huge expense.

The Society booth was in a premier location right next to the APS booth.  The corner location was a popular place for members to get together and exchange information.  Sales of our various publications were good and we recruited six new members.  Two “lost sheep” also came back into the Society.  Those visiting the booth included:

Joann Lenz	Mercer Bristow	Kurt Lenz
Stephen Suffet	Jerry Schwartz	C. David Eeles
Ann Dunkin	Jim Kloetzel	Charles A. Wood
Ruth Casey	David W. Lentz	Alan Warren
Wayne Youngblood	Joseph Bork	Kent Wilson
Bob Rufe	Stephen Reinhard	Ruth Caswell
Roger Brody	Greg Shoults	Steve Pacetti
Alan Parsons	Michael Burke	Ralph Nafziger
Andy Kupersmit	Dennis Callison	Barbara R. Mueller
Labron Harris	Larry Ballantyne	Jerry Lifsey
Nick Lombardi	Gordon C. Morrison	Ken Martin
Jim Forte	Tony Wawrukiewicz	Steve Unkrich
Leonard Piszkiewicz	Steven J. Rod	Richard A. Giessler
Ken Trettin	Jacques C. Schiff, Jr.	Ralph H. Nafziger
Denise Stotts	Jay Stotts	Ross Towle
Ronald Maifeld	Rod Juell	John W. Allen
Robert Thompson	Edward Schmidt	William Matthews
William J. Hart	Murray Abramson	Richard L. Beecher
Greg Sutherland	James R. Stultz	Doug Drumheller
Eliot Landau	Jeff Shapiro	Gerry Farrelly
Irv Miller	Phil Sager	Tony Dewey
Andrew McFarlane	Mike Lampson	Bob Thomas
Matt Liebson	David Bize	Peter Martin
Don Chenevert, Jr.	Michael Plett	David Straight
Henry Scheuer	Gene Frinks	Bob Hohertz
Clark Frazier	James O’Mara	Bill Janson
Frank Braithwaite	Alex Savakis	Jim Herron
John Rose	Joseph Bock	Robert Schlesinger
Chuck Wooster	Bob Ogrudnik	Dick Bates
Tom Jacks	K. David Steidley	Larry Penwell
Chad Snee	Jonathan Topper	Tom Corette
Richard Pederson	Marc Achterhof	Frank Magnoviti
Kent Kobersteen	Mike Stephens	Cheryl Ganz
Jim Kulwicki	Joan Anderson	James H. Peterson
Todd Uebele	Tom McFarland	Kurt Laubinger
Dave Hill	Fred Lewis	Chris Calle
Michael F. Schreiber	Marc Blair	Wout Janse
Arnold Selengut	David Grossblat	John Hotchner
Dan Piazza	Alex Haimann	Louis E. Reif, Jr.
John C. Heil	Steve Spoerl	James E. Depew
Greg A. Hopkins Sr.	Dan Undersander