The 2010 Annual Meeting is only a month away.  The United States Stamp Society meeting will be held in conjunction with the rejuvenated Philadelphia National Stamp Exhibition.

The USSS will gather during the weekend of April 9th through the 11th at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center located in Oaks, PA.  The official show hotel is the Homewood Suites by Hilton, Philadelphia-Valley Forge, 860 Shannondell Avenue, Audubon, PA 19406 and is offering special rates of $109 per night.  Reservations may be made by calling the hotel at 610-539-7300.  Additional information about the show and hotel is available on the PNSE website at http://www.pnse.org.

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.  Although the site has not yet been determined, we will post the information on our website as soon as it becomes available.  A sign-up sheet will be available at the USSS booth and tickets will be given to all who sign up on a first come, first served basis.  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 8:00AM to 10:00 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.

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

The November, 2009 issue of The United States Specialist listed the Nominating Committee’s proposed slate of candidates to serve the Society as Officers and Governors.  The proposed slate, if elected, would then serve a three-year term beginning in January, 2010.  Ballots were included in last Fall’s 2010 dues mailing.  Results of the voting by the general membership of the Society were as follows:

Chairman – Roger Brody
President – Nicholas Lombardi
Vice President – Jeffrey Shapiro
Secretary – Joann Lenz
Governor – Douglas D’Avino
Governor – Frank Braithwaite
Governor – Paul Jenkins
Governor – Kim Johnson
Governor – Rod Juell
Governor – Mike Lampson
Governor – James Patterson
Governor – Steven Rod
Governor – Jay Stotts

Therefore, the Nominating Committee’s slate of candidates listed above will serve a three-year term beginning January 1, 2010 and running through December 31, 2012.

—Larry Ballantyne
Executive Secretary

Larry S. Weiss and Gerald Nylander have been selected to receive the Walter W. Hopkinson Memorial Literature Award for the best article or series of articles published in The United States Specialist during 2009.  The award is given annually by the United States Stamp Society and consists of an engraved plaque and an honorarium.  Each author will receive a plaque and check, which will be presented at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia in April.

Larry S. Weiss

Weiss and Nylander co-authored three articles on the newly discovered patterns of the double line USPS watermark.  They discovered that both forward and reverse stepping patterns occur.  These articles in the August, September and November issues were entitled:  “Major New Discovery: Two patterns of ‘USPS’ Double Line Watermarks Exist,”  “Why has it Taken 100+ Years to Identify the Forward-Stepping ‘USPS’ Double Line Watermark?”,   and “Philatelic Discovery at the Kitchen Table.”  In addition, Weiss published an article in the October issue: “Catalog Implications of the Existence of Two Patterns of “USPS” Double Line Watermarks.”  This important research was the unanimous choice of the Committee for the award.

The Hopkinson Memorial Literature Award selection committee normally consists of the last three living winners of the award.  This year, however, since Larry Weiss won the award last year, Nicholas Lombardi substituted for him.  The Chairman of the committee was Wallace Cleland, the 2006 winner for the series “AMG Plate Blocks,” and the other member was Robert F. Rufe, the 2007 winner for his series “The U.S. Special Handling Issues.”

Gerald Nylander

The award has been given annually since 1953 in honor of Walter W. Hopkinson.  It was established by his wife, Mrs. Constance B. Hopkinson, in view of her husband’s interest in philatelic scholarship and dissemination of research and knowledge through the Society’s publications.  Hopkinson was a plate number specialist as well as a long time member and vigorous supporter of the Bureau Issue Association, as the Society was then named.

Larry’s selection as one of the 2009 winners makes him the only five-time recipient of this prestigious award.  He has previously won the award for articles written during 1984, 1991, 2000 and 2008.  This is Nylander’s first receipt of the award.  A complete list of previous winners of the award can be found on the Society’s website, www.usstamps.org.  Just click on “Feature Articles and Links” and the “Description of Awards given by the Society.”

The American Philatelic Society is offering the Computers in Philately course, taught by APS Instructor George Fekete, April 21-22, 2010 prior to WESTPEX as part of its continuing education series.  The computer has a plethora of uses for the philatelist.  Students taking this course will receive a toolkit designed to optimize use of the computer for a variety of philatelic tasks in this hands-on course.  Software and technology that can be used to take advantage of graphics, drawing, scanning, database, publishing, and commercial philatelic applications will be covered.  Students are invited to suggest topics not mentioned in the course description for possible integration into the curriculum.  Computers will NOT be provided in this course, so each student should bring a PC or Mac.  A basic knowledge of computer use is necessary to receive the most benefit from this course.

George Fekete

George is a lifelong stamp collector, a life member of both the American Philatelic Society and the American Philatelic Research Library.  During 2003-2007 he served on the APS Board of Vice Presidents.  His other philatelic memberships include the APS Writers Unit 30, United States Stamp Society, Empire State Postal History Society, Auxiliary Markings Club, American Philatelic Congress and the Rochester Philatelic Association.  George has taught Computers & Philately with American Philatelist editor Barb Boal and the assisted Dennis Gilson in teaching the Washington-Franklins course at APS Summer Seminars.

The cost of the course is $195 for APS members and $295 for non-members and will be held at the WESTEX stamp show host hotel, the San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel.  WESTPEX, April 23-25, 2010 is celebrating its 50th anniversary with 75 dealers from around the world.  Register for this course at the American Philatelic Society website, www.stamps.org on the Education page or by contacting Gretchen Moody, 814-933-3803.  A $15 discount is available until March 31, 2010.  Learn about other “On the Road” courses at the APS website.