With the Covid related cancelation of our 125th anniversary event in November, we are now announcing that our Lichtenstein dinner will be held on Wednesday May 4th at the Harvard Club. At the event, we’ll honor that evening: John Barwis, Mark Banchik, Patrick Maselis and our 2021 selection. In addition, we will be holding our annual single-frame competition at the Clubhouse the day before. It will be a very special couple of days. And, lest you have any doubts, this will happen.

In the last issue of this journal, you read about our plans regarding our home at 22 East 35th Street, and our quest for a new home. To briefly update you: 22E35th has been getting a lot of action, as real estate agents say. On the relocation side of things, we have hired a project manager and architectural firm to help us dimension the requirements, in concrete terms, for our new home. we have also started to explore actual potential sites. This will serve as a tremendous opportunity to reimagine our needs and the purposes to which we put our space.

As we have previously discussed, the Collectors Club plans to have membership social gatherings and talks at the more WSP shows. In the last issue of this journal, I wrote about our Collectors Club sessions at Westpex and GASS. As I write this now, we are looking forward to the joint meeting and program with the Collectors Club of Chicago. This will be a wine and cheese social setting, and I have little doubt but that this will be a super event and if you can make it, we hope to see you.

Now, you might ask, why go to all the trouble of traveling from one end of the country to another? The reason is quite simple. One of our prime obligations as a club is to strive to bring people together. We share a common interest: it’s philatelic. Once upon a time, this was easy. The center of gravity was in midtown New York and we gathered together frequently for a program followed by a dinner. But, this was once upon a time and we can’t just get together at the drop of a hat. There are other means and other approaches we have to bring our members together. So, that is why we are trying to hit the road more than in the past.

But there is more to bringing us together than seeing each other at a show or on Zoom. There is more that we can do to bring us together in sharing our common passion. One avenue is within our journal. I thought that it would be an interesting experiment if we started a new series in this journal. That would involve providing a page or two on a single item that is precious, important, or evocative for you and sharing that with this audience. And, telling us why this particular item is special to you. It need not necessarily be super expensive, that is not the criteria, this is an exercise focused on what is dear to you and what is special in your eyes. By so doing, I think we will get to know each other better.

Since this is a new endeavor, it is only fair that I expose myself to ridicule and you’ll find my item elsewhere in this journal. I would urge you to contribute something yourself. Surprise us!

There is also another concept at work here, namely we want to get more of us into the habit of writing or thinking about writing for this journal. This journal is a reflection of our membership and I hope to see more of you, not only at shows or online, but in our Collectors Club Philatelist pages. It’s all part of coming together and sharing our common passion.

–Lawrence Haber