My letter in this issue of the Collectors Club Philatelist may seem a touch disjointed, but there has been a great amount of activity going on related to the management of the Club. I would to drop back a bit and provide you with some insights. Better disjointed than not keeping the membership in some important loops.
 
Real Estate

As matters stand at this moment, we have a prospective buyer for 22 East 35th Street. The buyer, being a sovereign entity, sees the proximity to UN Plaza as an advantage. After a few back-and-forth exchanges, the matter was brought to the Board of Governors and they authorized the sale of the building. This is a vital first step as we proceed towards moving the Club to its new home. We hope to have a signed contract in a matter of days.
 
You’ll recall our discussion of air rights, otherwise known as unused developmental rights? We (finally) received a credible offer from our next-door neighbor, the Community Church, and we are actively negotiating price and terms.
 
In the midst of all this sales activity, we have been busy looking for our new home.

We have undertaken a great deal of work with an architect and other professionals to evaluate our space and fit out needs. As anticipated, there is no lack of appropriate space in midtown Manhattan. We have an excellent handle on our requirements for a new home. This has been derived from both an analysis of our current space utilization and our vision for the future. At the most basic level, we need around 4,500 square feet. But, in New York you do not lease “usable” space you lease “rentable” space. Rentable space is marked up by around 27% above that which you actually use. Fortunately, we are very well advised. We are absolutely committed to staying within the area marked by Penn Station in the south, Grand Central Terminal to the north, between Lexington and 7th Avenues. There are a number of potentials, some of which we have toured several times, and we remain convinced that we can do very well. As many of you might imagine, today is a good time to discuss commercial real estate leases in Manhattan. Promises have been made that we can transition ourselves to a wonderful new location. There is no reason to back off from that commitment.
 

Dates

We all want to come back to the clubhouse. We are sick and tired of canceling and putting off Club events. Yes, everyone seems to agree we have done well with the virtual events, but there is also a time and a need for us to meet and talk in real space. And, of course, we are going to be prudent and in full compliance with the rules in New York.
 
With all that in mind, I would like to point out some upcoming events that we think you should not miss:

April 13: Our first program in the Club since March 2020. Steve McGill on British Postal Automation. Yes, this program will be live-streamed but we want to see you in the Clubhouse.
 
May 4th: The Lichtenstein Awards dinner, at the Harvard Club. We will be honoring John Barwis (2019), Patrick Maselis, Mark Banchik (2020), and Chris Harmon (2021). Invitations will go out six weeks in advance, but I urge you to attend this event and mark your calendars now.
 
August 24: Our joint dinner with Boston 2026 at the Great American Stamp Show in Sacramento. This will take place on the Wednesday prior to the opening of the show. Our dinner at GASS 2021 in Rosemount, Ill was a huge success and you will not want to miss this.
 
November 9: Our single-frame exhibit competition. This will be the last time our SFE competition will be held at 22 East 35th. Let us make this a competition never to be forgotten. That would be the best way to honor our Clubhouse’s traditions. If you do not have a single framer, then now is the time to start. It is my hope that we will have to go on bended knee to our friends at NOJEX to borrow some extra frames.
 

Stanley Piller

I think I read an obituary for Stanley Piller in almost every philatelic journal I get, including our own Collectors Club Philatelist. There is not much I can add to his life story.
 
Despite all the tributes and kind words, the reality still remains: I miss Stanley.
 
I was at the Sarasota show and there was an emptiness. Don’t get me wrong, the people in Sarasota did a wonderful job, as they always do, with the show, but I still missed Stanley. No show will be the same for me without the chance to come to his booth, sit and talk. He’d ask if I would like to take a look and out come the bundles bound in heavy rubber bands. For those shows I did not attend, I could expect a call from Stanley telling me about something he found. He would race ahead with his description with such a New York minute pace that I could barely keep up with him. Most times, I just blindly said “yes”. I figured he had a gold Rolex to feed and who am I to say “no”?
 
The other day, I finally got to unpack the case that I used to carry my exhibit to Chicagopex. Inside was a small bag with the covers I bought at that show, back in November. I had forgotten about them. Inside were a few covers I bought from Stanley and one in particular caught my eye. [image] You will note $400 for a US Scott 357, a US 1¢ Washington-Franklin blue paper on cover. For the life of me, I don’t know why I bought it. We all agree it’s a ridiculous price. That’s Stanley. Gold Rolexes don’t come cheap and neither do Stanley’s covers. But, I’m not unhappy.
 
Back at Sarasota, I was looking at my exhibit and I remembered that I bought this item from Stanley, and I bought that item from Stanley. Som many good pieces came from Stanley. I know that though I miss Stanley there is a little bit of him up in the frames and in my albums and it reminds me of why I loved him.
 
Rest in peace, my friend.

 

–Lawrence Haber

It has been quite a year. We began 2021 with great trepidation. The health situation, worldwide, was difficult. None of us had been vaccinated and we had yet to learn what a variant was. Nevertheless, as a club we persevered. We held 24 Zoom programs, connecting all of us at home with each other and our great hobby. With the return of some in person shows, we had a presence at three major stamps shows, and provided four programs. Finally, too, we were able to hold an open house at our clubhouse on 22 E 35th Street. Many of you recognized these efforts and we saw growth in membership we hadn’t seen in decades.
  
As we now look forward to 2022, we expect a return to a new normal. A careful normal, a responsible normal. It is unlikely we will return to the normal of February 2020. Our program schedule for the year is set. We will have 26 programs in the coming year and of these, 7 will be live from the club house. Every one of our programs will be streamed live to everyone. This allows so many of our members who do not live close to our clubhouse to enjoy their membership and connect with members through our programming. We are also looking forward to a single-frame competition to be held at the clubhouse, a Governors Open House in December, and an extremely special Lichtenstein dinner to be held on May 4th at the Harvard Club. We fully expect 2022 to be a very special year of accomplishment and your Board of Governors is very excited about the year to come. We are also very conscious that the threat of COVID remains, but it is our expectation that we will truly learn to live and find ways to connect and enjoy our hobby together responsibly as we return to a new normal.

On other fronts, perhaps a brief word of update is in order regarding the marketing of our premise at 22 E35th and our exploration of Manhattan real estate. As we write this, we can report that the building marketing has been active. A great deal of interest has been demonstrated and number of potential buyers have viewed the building. From this, there are a number of interested potential buyers and we are hopeful we will receiving meaningful offers. Transactions of this nature are more complicated than those we may be familiar with in residential real estate. Typically, architects and lawyers have to be engaged to survey the site and advise on fit out and zoning. All of this takes time. We are confident that our efforts will yield offers worth our consideration.
 
While the building has been marketed, we have also explored potential new sites for our club, and we remain confident that a suitable site can be found and at a price that will be financially responsible and represent an upgrade above and beyond our current circumstances. Geographically, we are limiting ourselves to the same general vicinity of our current club house. Specifically, we will stay within the same general area in Midtown, that is between Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal. In this way, we will ensure that visitors will be within a short walk of either of those terminals. Viewing properties, we know we can find a suitable new home for our club. Please also rest assured, we would not make any form of commitment on a new location until the status of 22 E 35th is clear and close to definitive.
 
Before we finish this letter, it is with pride that we point out that this issue is volume 100 number 1. This is the one-hundredth anniversary of this journal! It is time to pause and recognize the contribution that this journal has made to philately over the course of the past century. One of my favorite treats is to randomly select an issue for the past, download this issue and immerse in a portal to the past. It’s great fun and there are innumerable delights in store. I invite you to do the same. But, we need to do more than read articles printed in the past, we also have to support this journal by making contributions. Certainly, we welcome your efforts to provide major articles, but it need not necessarily be a major article. In our last issue we introduced a new series, “Essential Elements” and we urge you to contribute.
 
In the very first issue of this journal, Vol 1 No 1, the editor, H. L. Lindquist wrote “A few months ago a small group of loyal members met to decide upon the future of the Collectors Club.” Nothing has actually changed, our focus and attention remain on the future of this Club and we trust that one hundred years from today that our successors will thank us for our efforts today.

 

–Lawrence Haber

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

Welcome to our September/October 2021 Issue.

Undoubtedly, most significant is the Board’s decision to begin the process of the Club finding our new home by listing 22 East 35th Street for sale. This topic is covered in depth in a separate article on page X. That detailing is intended to be open, direct, and transparent. Should you have any remaining questions or concerns not otherwise covered please do not hesitate to get in touch with us, you can email me directly.

I am writing this in the brief time between the first major show held since the start of the pandemic, Westpex and prior to the big national show in Rosemont, Ill, the Great American Stamp Show. None of us knows what the future holds, but what was clear from having attended Westpex is that it was wonderful to meet with old friends and to make some new ones. Clearly there was the buzz in the air of friends enjoying our great hobby together. We sponsored two talks at the show. Both Fredrick Lawrence and Gordon Eubanks provided informative and interesting talks. For the first time, we arranged for our talks at a show to be videoed. The videos are available on our website. As to being at Westpex, it was fabulous to see real material in the frames and to visit dealers, sit down at their booths and leaf through packets of material.

Elsewhere in this journal, in the article about the Board’s decision, we set out our mission:

The Collectors Club brings members and friends together, virtually and in person, at its clubhouse in New York and around the country to educate, inspire and support them in pursuit of their philatelic goals.

“Brings members and friends together”. We are not a scholarly society dedicated to the in-depth study of a particular facet of philately. We might have a scholarly journal, but its topics range across the entirety of philately. Really, what we do is bring people together. Due to the pandemic this has been difficult, but our virtual Zoom meetings have worked to fill the void. Many say we have succeeded in that endeavor and have enjoyed our programming from home.

There is a common thread connecting our anniversary events, our presence at Westpex and GASS. It is all part of our mission to bring collectors together.

Back in late June we hosted an open house at the Clubhouse. Although we did not count heads with great precision, more than 50 people attended. It was wonderful to get re-acquainted with friends. Although there was no program, we did place material in the frames thanks to Joan and Keith Harmer. The last time material was in those frames was way back in March 2020. It was truly a delight to see those frames filled once again, it had been far too long.

As we begin the last quarter of 2021 and approach 2022, you can look forward to joining with other Collectors Club members once again. You can join with us at Napex and Chicagopex 2021 for programs and gatherings. Meanwhile, our virtual programming will continue into and throughout 2022, a program every other week.

Back at the Clubhouse, we will resume programs on the second Wednesday of each month. These sessions in the Clubhouse will be streamed live through the internet for you to enjoy in your home.

We have many ways for you to join with members and friends to enjoy our hobby together.

 

–Lawrence Haber

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