After a little more than a year at the helm of the Washington-Franklin Head Issues Committee, life has gotten in the way and Paul Bourke has announced he is stepping down as Chairman of the committee.  Happily, it is a good thing for Paul. His new position as an adjunct professor of history in the Massachusetts Community College system has enabled him to earn a living working at something he really enjoys.  Unfortunately, for us, the time required has left him little for anything else.

However, it is my pleasure to announce that longtime Committee member Gerald Nylander has offered to take on the job.  Jerry has been a member of the USSS (formerly the BIA) since 1975.  He is also a member of the APS, the Auxiliary Markings Club, Chicago Philatelic Society and the Collectors Club of Chicago.  He was a member of the Essay Proof Society and the Society of Philatelic Americans until they disbanded.

Jerry has written several articles for The Specialist and for Auxiliary Markings, the journal of the Auxiliary Markings Club.  He also authored one of the chapters in the Encyclopedia of United States Stamps and Stamp Collecting.  Most recently, he and Larry Weiss co-authored the series of articles about the newly discovered patterns of the double line USPS watermark.  For their discovery and articles, Jerry and Larry were 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.

Jerry has been collecting Washington-Franklins since 1974 and has worked with the Committee for many years helping to edit articles and furnish images for use in those pieces.  I wish to thank Jerry for taking on this role and I’m certain the USSS and the Committee will be well served.

—Nick Lombardi
President

This year more members than ever are making contributions to the USSS. All contributions beyond the regular annual dues of $25 qualify under current IRS guidelines as a tax deductible charitable contribution.  We acknowledge all contributions of $5 or more with a written receipt.

It has come to our attention that your contribution may be eligible for a matching grant from your employer.  Many companies have matching programs for contributions made by employees to eligible, recognized charitable organizations.  If you have recently made a contribution to the USSS and your company has such a program, please consider applying for a matching grant.

— David S. Sugar
Treasurer

Here are the United States Stamp Society medal winners that have been reported from recent shows:

NOTE: If you have won a USSS award and have not seen it listed here, please let
me know and I will see that it is recorded.

Show Awards Chairs, please note:
USSS AWARDS PROGRAM

The USSS Gold Statue of Freedom Medal is sent automatically to all APS World Series of Philately shows.

The USSS Silver President’s Award medal is available upon request to all local and regional shows.

For more information, or to request an award, please contact me by e-mail or write to P.O. Box 690042, Houston, TX 77269-0042.

—Denise Stotts, Awards Committee

The American Philatelic Society is offering the Washington-Franklin Issues course, taught by APS Instructor Dennis Gilson, June 2-3, 2010 prior to NAPEX as part of its continuing education series.

This class is not just for the expert collector, but for anyone who has collected, wants to collect, or is a bit intimidated by the thought of collecting these classic issues.  Included will be hands-on sessions where you will use a variety of stamps from the series and be guided through the identification process.  You will leave the course with resource materials to use for future collecting of the Washington-Franklins.

Dennis Gilson will teach this special two-day course using the latest technology to bring students the clearest understanding of the differing types of stamps in this series. The first day will include instruction on identifying the 2¢ and 3¢ types, use of the Micarelli guide and time to examine the stamps.  The second day will emphasize recognizing fakes and forgeries.  By the end of this course you will be able to accurately identify 200+ varieties of the Washington-Franklins, and correctly sort the stamps by Scott numbers.

While there are no prerequisites, a basic understanding of perforations, watermarks and the different printing methods and papers used during the early U.S. stamp period will make it easier for you to learn all that this course covers.  The introduction to the Scott U.S. Specialized Catalogue will provide participants with much of the basic information.

The cost of the course is $195 for APS members and $295 for nonmembers and will be held at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.  Register for this course at the American Philatelic Society website, www.stamps.org on the Education page or by contacting Gretchen Moody, APS Director of Education, 814-933-3803.  A $15 discount is available until March 31, 2010.  NAPEX, June 4-6, 2010, is a World Series of Philately stamp show hosted by D.C. area collectors beginning in 1950.

Note: The Washington-Franklin Issues class is full.  But learn about other “On the Road” courses at the APS website.

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.

As you know, the Society will convene its 2010 Annual Meeting at the Philadelphia National Stamp Exhibition in Oaks, PA during the weekend of April 9th through the 11th.  On Saturday, April 10th, we will hold our General Membership Meeting in the early afternoon.  One of the highlights of the meeting will be the presentation of Membership Award Pins to those who, during 2010, will have attained 50, 25, and 15 years of membership.  These members are:

50 Year Members

25 Year Members

15 Year Members

If you are a part of this distinguished group, why not plan on attending the meeting and receiving your pin, and the Society’s thanks, in person? If, however, you are unable to attend, your pin will be mailed shortly after the meeting.

Time is getting short!

With just two months to go until our Annual Meeting at the Philadelphia National Stamp Exhibition, there is still some time left to reserve space for your exhibit at the show.  But you have to hurry!  Only a few frames are still available.  You can download the necessary form directly from the show website at http://www.pnse.org.  Remember that this is the only show during 2010 where you can compete for the Society’s two most prestigious exhibiting awards, the Hugh M. Southgate Memorial Trophy for the best exhibit of 19th century material and the Walter W. Hopkinson Trophy for the best exhibit of 20th century material.  In addition to being eligible for these awards, you’ll also help the Society put its best foot forward on the exhibition floor.

You can also give a presentation about your exhibit or favorite collecting area during the show.  Just let me know which day and time slot you’d like to have and I’ll work with the show committee to make it happen.  Take the opportunity to share your passion and knowledge about your particular specialty with the rest of us.  It will be greatly appreciated.

—Nick Lombardi
President