Through the Collectors Club we have been making a lot of new friends. We call them “new members”. My mother used to say that the best part of making new friends is turning them into old friends. Indeed, more than 100 new members have joined since the pandemic hit us in March 2020. It is going to a particular focus for all of to turn all these new friends into old friends.

The Collectors Club believes that our mission is to bring members and friends together, virtually and in person. We do this at our clubhouse in New York and also around the country at shows and special gatherings to educate, inspire and support hobbyists in pursuit of their philatelic goals. All of you reading this message belong to the Collectors Club and are engaged because you fundamentally agree with this proposition.

The key to fulfilling this mission is action.

We intend to increase our presence at major shows. You will see the Collectors Club hosting speakers at WESTPEX, NOJEX, NAPEX, and Chicagopex. This is in addition to the big August show in Chicago, GASS.

At these shows we will be available to meet with our members, we might have a table, we may organize some talks and we might even sponsor or participate in a dinner. Having a physical presence is important as ultimately it is through these physical encounters that we bond people together. We look forward to seeing and speaking with you at these shows and we are excited to be able to re-engage with our friends in real time and space. It is all part of “educate, inspire and support”.

Speaking of virtual time and space. We have been very active this season with our Zoom presentations. Following on this wave, thirty virtual programs have been scheduled for 2021. You may be interested in reading some of the feedback we have received:

However, the quality and value of the presentations this winter and spring have accelerated—if that’s possible—and I find myself finally appreciating philately in ways that I haven’t experienced before; the hobby now feels more like a pathway to an historical adventure than a window from which I can can gaze at pretty stamps and covers.

Even as a kid I felt that I was messing around with bits of significant historical artifact; the Collector Club’s webinars have created a substantial foundation for this sensation and have helped me turn my own helter-skelter accumulations of truly common material into (small but meaningful) collections that serve to teach; my European History prof must be smiling from his perch in the nether world.

The talk … inspired me to find the boxes of material I have that were unloved and buried deep in the back of a cupboard.

Best wishes, and thanks again for stretching my philatelic boundaries.

It’s nice to hear this feedback and there are a lot of people who deserve credit. If not for the effort of our VP & Chief Technology Officer Joan Harmer none of this would have happened. We are indebted to our program chair, Steve Reinhard for arranging for the speakers and their topics. There is much work that goes on in the background with the help of Mark Banchik and Wade Saadi. Our technical run throughs are smoothly managed and the programs themselves are effectively managed. It’s a team effort of members who make the effort and act.

We can all see that we are now on the best side of the pandemic, and we are working on our schedule for 2022. We are committed to delivering two virtual programs per month. We expect to resume programs from 22 East 35th Street in the new year, and we are thrilled to share the Clubhouse with you once again. These program from the Clubhouse will be live streamed. We want you all, both those local to New York and not, to be “close” to us and to feel a part of our club family.

We believe that the best way to make our new friends, old friend is stay true to our mission: “to bring members and friends together, virtually and in person”.

We intend to make our new friends, old friends.

–Lawrence Haber