Show Report: APS StampShow August 4-7, 2005

The annual APS StampShow was held at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  StampShow is the nation's largest annual stamp event.  There were 150 dealer booths, four first day ceremonies, several postal administrations, a cachetmakers' bourse, about 13,000 pages of exhibits, a youth area, society meetings, and society booths, including one for the United States Stamp Society.

The USSS booth was staffed the entire four days of the show; many members met at the booth and twelve new members signed on.  Some of the Society publications were on display and for sale; the most popular item was 2005 Durland Standard Plate Number Catalog, which was first on sale in July at the USSS Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.  All in all, it was a great success.

The winner of the USSS Statue of Freedom Medal in the open competition was David Eeles for his five-frame exhibit, "Three-cent Stamps of the 1954 Liberty Series." A Prexie Era Committee Meeting was led by Robert Schlesinger.  Besides the open exhibits, there was a literature competition and the Champion of Champions competition.  The APS Luff honorees were Cheryl Edgcomb, Al Kugel and Ann Triggle.

In addition to the cachetmakers' bourse and the first day ceremonies, Chris Calle, who has designed more than 200 postage stamps for countries including the United States, Sweden, the United Nations, and the Marshall Islands, designed the show cachet using the Presidential Libraries as his theme.

The Society booth was a popular place to meet other members, sit and chat, and in general, to take the load off one's feet.  Those visiting and/or helping at the booth included: