The USSS at StampShow: August 12–15, 2010
By Nicholas Lombardi

The temperatures were high in The River City, but so was the enthusiasm of more than 130 USSS members from across the country who flocked to the annual APS StampShow held this year in Richmond, Virginia.

The show ran four full days and the Society manned a spacious corner booth during the entire time.  As you can see from the list below, many members stopped by and signed in, surpassing our total last year in Pittsburgh.  Our booth served as a meeting place for members to visit with old friends, make new ones, and, in many cases, to put a face with a familiar name.  The friendly atmosphere also attracted many non-members who inquired about the Society and purchased many of our publications.  Book sales for the four days were excellent.  We also signed up 16 new members and welcomed three “lost sheep” back into the fold.  This was our best recruiting result ever at a show, even topping what we did in Pittsburgh last year, which had topped the Portland StampShow in 2008.  A number of these new recruits said that they had sought us out because of our prominent full-page ad in the show program.

The show program ad on page 77 featured the recently released 2010 Durland Standard Plate Number Catalog Supplement.  This no doubt contributed to the sellout of our entire Supplement show stock by Saturday morning.  This is the first time the Society has issued a midterm supplement and the results have been outstanding.  More are in stock, so be sure to order one before they’re gone.

On Friday evening 50 members and guests took a leisurely five block stroll to participate in our traditional StampShow Dutch Treat Dinner at Tarrant’s Café.  Good food and conversation was enjoyed by all.  The highlight of the affair for me was being able to present 15-Year Membership Pins to Ralph Nafziger and Tony Wawrukiewicz.

Speaking of membership pins, during the course of the show, I was able to present 25-Year Membership Pins to Don Sundman (of Mystic Stamps), Sonny Hagendorf (of Columbian Stamp Company), Kent Kobersteen, Bill Matthews, and Fred Skvara.  I also had the pleasure of giving 15-Year pins to Virginia Goldberg (of Subway Stamps) and dealer Don Tocher.  Those members who did not receive their pins at either our Annual Meeting in April at PNSE or at StampShow will hopefully have received them in the mail by the time you read this.  A sincere “Thank You” goes along with each of these pins.

The third annual United States Stamp Society – Barbara R. Mueller Award for the best article in The American Philatelist during a single year was presented during the Saturday evening awards banquet by Chairman Roger S. Brody to Howard W. Geisler for his article “Saarland: A German State with French Philatelic History,” which appeared in the November, 2009 issue of the AP.  Barbara was also on hand at the dinner and personally congratulated Mr. Geisler.  The winning article is determined by the APS membership, the magazine staff, and a selection committee appointed by the APS board.

Five of our members were recognized by the APS for their philatelic volunteer work within the hobby.  C. David Eeles, Cheryl Ganz, and Jeff Shapiro each received a Nicholas G. Carter Volunteer Recognition Award for their work at the national level and Rocco Caponi was honored for his work at the local level.  The Outstanding Young Adult Philatelist Award was presented to Matt Liebson.

A number of our members gave presentations on a variety of subjects during the show.  Clark Frazier, John Hotchner, Eliot Landau, Jacques Schiff, Ken Martin, Dan Piazza and Ralph Nafziger spoke on topics ranging from the Large Bank Note Issues to auxiliary markings.  The USSS was also well represented on the exhibit floor.  Members entered exhibits that could be found in the single-frame, multi-frame, Court of Honor, and Champion of Champions competitions.

I’d like to express my appreciation to all of those members who helped setup and staff the booth at the show.  Among the volunteers were Eliot Landau, Jeff Shapiro, Len Piszkiewicz, Kurt & Joann Lenz, Jay & Denise Stotts, Bob Rufe, Rod Juell, C. David Eeles, Bob Thomas, Dave Bussiere, Kevin Lowther and Roger Brody.  A very special thanks once again goes to Tom Jacks of Mountainside Stamps for transporting the Society’s booth supplies to the show.

Those visiting the USSS both included: