February 2018 - Sneak Peek

The Philatelic Literature Review and the American Philatelist both
received Christoph Gaertner Awards for philatelic literature at
Monacophil 2017.
Scout Troop Devotes Day to Scout Merit Badge
Club members and Scout leaders Tony Evans and Marti
Tillinger helped the Olean (New York) Stamp Club plan and
conduct its second annual one-day Scout Merit Badge Stamp
Workshop. Evans sent letters to Scouts in the Allegheny
Highlands Council and asked those interested to register in
advance for the event. On Saturday, December 2, 14 Scouts
showed up. Club President Ron Yeager, Vice President Steve
Teachman and Treasurer
Larry Kilmer assisted Scout
leaders Evans and Tillinger
by providing verbal and
visual workshops with active
participation from the
Scouts.
The event was scheduled
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
with a short break for lunch, which was provided by the club.
After lunch the club provided stamps for a scavenger hunt.
Stamps were placed on the tables and the Scouts had to find
75 topical or country stamps which filled one of the requirements
of the merit badge. The Scouts were then given a bag
and filled it with some of the stamps remaining. The event
ended with an auction. Each Scout was given $15 in play
money. Club members provided stamps, stock books, albums
and other philatelic items on which to bid.
The last requirement instructs the Scouts to build a collection
and monitor their incoming mail for a period of 30
days. The club will monitor this requirement and then certify
that the Scouts have completed this section. The Scouts
professed that they had a good time and it proved to be a
great experience for our club. One of the fathers stayed for
the presentation, asked many questions and professed that he
was somewhat of a collector and now has a stronger interest.
Reports of Sad Losses
I received a nice letter from an APS member in Puerto
Rico thanking us for concern for their well being following
the hurricane in early fall. Unfortunately, we recently heard
from another member, William Sargis, from California for
whom the California wildfires caused the loss of his collection
and basically all of his belongings. We hope, in time, he
will once again have a stamp collection that he can enjoy.
There are even more poignant losses involving Bonnie
Riga and Robert Mason.
For many years, Bonnie and Roger Riga, of the Dayton,
Ohio area, were regular dealers at stamp shows specializing
in cinderellas and ephemera. Sadly, Bonnie passed away in
November. During their travels to and from shows, the Rigas
often visited the APS when we were in State College. In
more recent years the Rigas moved their buying and selling
online and their visits to us became less frequent. We will
certainly miss Bonnie and offer our condolences to Roger.
Robert Mason, of Utica, New York, passed away in November.
For many years, Robert would visit the APS to use
the library for a week or even two weeks at a time, and for
as many as four or more times in a single year. As part of his
research he made thousands of photocopies and I figure he
probably financed the cost of at least one copier for our library.
It has been a few years since his last visit but it was still
a shock to us to learn of his passing.
Thanks for Holiday Generosity
As I write, Hanukkah is just about over and Christmas is
a few days away, but we hope whatever holidays you celebrate
were enjoyable. We are incredibly blessed with wonderful
members and appreciate the holiday greetings, as well as end
of year cash and in-kind gifts many of you have sent. During
December it is not unusual for us to receive as many as 50
cash gifts and 10 in-kind gifts on a single day.
Our library has received two large gifts of philatelic literature.
The first, is just an “initial” installment from long time
society historian Herb Trenchard. The second came from
53-year member J. Thomas Showler.
We hope to see many of you at the APS winter show,
AmeriStamp Expo, February 23 to 25 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Members of the Chicago-based Chapter 5 of the German Philatelic
Society pose for a group photo at its annual holiday party.
180 AMERICAN PHILATELIST / FEBRUARY 2018