Welcome to the New Year! Please join me in congratulating our former President, Stephen Reinhart, on his selection by the Board of Governors to be the 2017 recipient of the Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Philately.   A complete description of the Award and Steve’s accomplishments appears elsewhere in this issue.   Steve will be feted at our Annual Awards Dinner on Wednesday May 3 in New York City.  Invitations will be forthcoming in the spring.

After focusing our Club’s 2016 Outreach efforts on the successful World Stamp Show – NY2016, I am glad to report that the Club is resuming its practice of taking its annual multi-frame exhibiting competition on the road.  This year we will be attending the NAPEX stamp show, June 9-11, 2017, at the Hilton Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC.  For those travelling by train to Washington’s Union Station or by air to Reagan National Airport, Tyson’s Corner can be reached directly by Washington’s Metro mass transit system.

We expect to organize a Collectors Club social dinner for all greater Washington area Club members, as well as Club members visiting NAPEX, and their guests on the show’s opening evening, Friday, June 9th.  Details will be provided in future CCP issues and by email to all members.

As a reminder, to exhibitors, the Club’s three multi-frame awards are given to the best 19th century US exhibit, the best 20-21st century US exhibit, and the best international exhibit.   So, exhibitors, please do not miss this opportunity to promote the hobby and the Club and to have some fun and camaraderie with your fellow Club members!  The NAPEX prospectus is available at the Clubhouse and by download from www.napex.org.

If you visit the Club on an afternoon when she is present, please welcome our new part-time Library Assistant, Andrea Matura.   Andrea comes to us after having provided administrative support to World Stamp Show 2016 immediately before and after the show.  One of the projects that Andrea will be undertaking is the assignment of Library of Congress-style call numbers to the books in the main 1st floor library, paralleling the call numbers used by the APRL in Bellefonte, PA.  These call numbers should make it much easier to find and correctly shelve books in the library which are presently organized loosely by subject in the US or by country and author for the rest of the world.

Also, by the time you read this, a visit to the Club’s website at www.collectorsclub.org will reveal a newly organized website created by our webmaster, Eric M. Stone under the direction of our IT Chair, Joan Harmer and David Steidley.  The new website features a more modern database-driven engine “under the hood” which will accommodate a members-only section featuring exclusive access to selected member meeting videos and eventually the digitized contents of the Collectors Club Philatelist.  The new WordPress content management system will also allow for the easy posting of updates to the website which should result in more timely content and make the website a place to visit to see current news and announcements.  Thanks to Eric, Joan, and David for their efforts to see this conversion through to fruition.

I would also like to recognize Debby Friedman’s efforts in leading the Club’s Youth Stamp Club and Adults Beginners programs which meet monthly at the Club on the 3rd Saturdays of September through June.  The Youth Club has 15 registered members and the Adult Beginners average 8-10 attendees per meeting.   Previous youth participant, Truth Miller, subsequently graduated from the APS’ Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship this year and three of the Adult Beginners have since joined the Club.  Contributions of philatelic material and supplies suitable for these programs are welcome – please address them to the “Youth Stamp Program” at the Club.  And please join me in expressing appreciation to Debby for her efforts in promoting philately the next time you see her.

Lastly, the Club has an important volunteer activity that can be undertaken by any of our members as it does not require proximity to the Clubhouse.  After yeoman’s service, Eddie Bridges, has stepped down as Advertising Manager for the Collectors Club Philatelist.   The Advertising Manager role is both important to the Club as it generates revenue that supports the CCP’s publication as well as providing an opportunity to get to know an international dealer community of the highest caliber.  Much of the work of the Advertising Manager is conducted by telephone and email so any Club member with an interest is encouraged to apply.  If you have an interest in expanding your philatelic network, please contact me and I will be happy to share the “volunteer position description” details with you.

Best wishes for a happy, prosperous, and rewarding philatelic 2017!

Congratulations to Collectors Club members who earned outstanding recognition at APS AmeriStamp Expo 2016 in Atlanta. Dr. Edwin J. Andrews won the show’s Multiframe Grand Award for Hitler Youth – The Generations of Lost Innocence. Kathryn Johnson won the show’s Single Frame Grand for Evolving Bishop Marks in Scotland: Postal History and both Single Frame Reserve Grand Awards also recognized Collectors Club members, Mark S. Schwartz for Boston’s Paid in Grid Cancels on the U.S. Imperforate Issues and Timothy Wait for 1862 Insurance Tax.

The Collectors Club’s single frame team did well with three Gold medals and two Vermeils but were beaten by a team with three other Club members. Congratulations to Kathryn Johnson, Seija-Ritta Laakso, and Timothy Wait and their winning “Good from Start to Finish” team. Special thanks to Harlan Stone for organizing the Collectors Club team on short notice this year. Looking ahead to next year I note that there is the opportunity for more than one Collectors Club team to be formed as one San Francisco club fielded three. Please consider joining the fun with a CCNY one-frame exhibit team next year.

I am happy to report that the Collectors Club and Philatelic Foundation Grand Opening and Awards Dinner honoring Dr. Cheryl Ganz (Lichtenstein Award) and Dr. Peter P. McCann (Neinken Medal) is fully subscribed and invoices have been sent to reservation holders. Don’t despair however as we have a waiting list to fill cancellations, so if you do not hold a reservation, please contact Irene Bromberg at info@collectorsclub.org or 212-683-0559 to add your name. Special thanks go to Daniel F. Kelleher Auctions and Schuyler Rumsey Philatelic Auctions whose premier sponsorships along with additional support from Robert A. Siegel Auction Galleries allow us to present the best value social event of the World Stamp Show-NY2016 week.

For non-profit organizations within our hobby, volunteerism is a key to being able to deliver on our missions’ common theme of promoting education through philately. The Collectors Club is a major sponsor of the upcoming World Stamp Show-NY2016 and I hope that all resident members and visiting non-resident and international members can devote some time before, during, or after the show to volunteer with set-up, show operations, or take down to help the show committee to produce a dynamite show experience for all attendees. Please visit the show website ny2016.org and click on the “Become a Volunteer” button in the “Show Info” drop down menu to learn more and register.

On the home front, three significant Committee chairs are open to volunteers in the areas of the Library, Information Technology, Publicity, and Development. While the Library and IT roles would be best filled by a resident member, the Development and publicity roles could be well served from any geography. Please contact me if you would like to explore one of these roles or if you can provide a nomination from among the membership.

Finally, I would like to thank member Alan Holyoake for his generous donation to the Club of his new book, The Mulready Postal Stationery, co-written with Alan Huggins. We will be featuring this book for sale at the Club’s megabooth at World Stamp Show-NY2016 or it can be ordered for delivery in the US for $60 postpaid. Overseas members not attending World Stamp Show-NY2016 may wish to order the book from the Postal Stationery Society, http://www.postalstationery.org.uk/mulready_book/ where the shipping costs are lower than ours.

I look forward to greeting all members attending World Stamp Show-NY2016, May 28-June 4. May your hotel reservations NOW at ny2016.org to take advantage of the Show’s discounted rates. They are selling out fast.