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Glossary of Terms |
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NOJEX '2004 Hosts Annual Meeting
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The United States Stamp Society held its annual meeting at NOJEX '04 in
Secaucus, New Jersey over the Memorial Day weekend, May 29-31, 2004. The
Federation of New Jersey Stamp Clubs once again hosted and put together an
excellent event and venue for the Society. In addition to a dealer bourse and
APS competitive exhibits,
the show offered excellent seminars and a stamp auction.
Forty-eight members signed in at the Society table. A list of attending members appends this report and indicates that we enjoyed representation across the continental USA with members from Maine to Texas and New Jersey to California. The show opened Saturday morning. On that day the Society offered, for the first time, our latest publication U.S. Booklet and Booklet Panes, Volume I: Flat Plate Regular Issues, co-authored by Donald Littlefield and Sam Frank. This 290-page work compiles most, if not all, of the known information about the 22 U.S. booklet pane issues starting with the 2¢ 1900 Scott #279Be and ending with the 2¢ 1923 Scott #554c. It also describes the 185 different complete booklets in which these issues were sold to the public, and the forerunner items that preceded them. Sam Frank was on hand to sign copies which enjoyed brisk sales. Saturday evening, after the show closed for the day, we followed tradition with a members' informal dinner at a local restaurant. President Nick Lombardi surprised the gathering of 23 members when he announced that NOJEX had picked up the tab for the dinner. As has also been the tradition, all enjoyed the table conversation and had a very good time. The Board of Governors held their meeting early Sunday morning. Topics from finance, publication schedule, committee business, and future meeting locations were covered. President Nick Lombardi called the General Membership Meeting to order at 1 PM. Treasurer David Sugar presented the preliminary results for 2003. Executive Secretary Larry Ballantyne reported that membership at the end of 2002 was 1,878 and at the end of 2003, it was 1,811. Larry suggested that USSS members could recruit at shows and talk with their local club members about USSS. To help give more visibility at other shows, Nick Lombardi mentioned that a ribbon has been created to be placed on the exhibits that win the Society's Statue of Freedom award at national shows. He added that if anyone would like to staff a table at some other show, even a local or regional show, contact him and he will see that supplies and/or helpful hints are provided. New committee chairs announced were: Kent Wilson - First Bureau Issues; Doug D'Avino - Marginal Markings; Eliot Landau - Registered Mail. Currently open for a chairperson is the Dummy Booklets Study Group. The next annual meeting, the Society's 75th Anniversary, will be in Indianapolis, at INDYPEX, in July, 2005. The 2006 meeting will be held in conjunction with the international show in Washington, DC. Tentative plans for other years are: 2007, Dallas; 2008, Boxborough; 2009, St. Louis. It was noted that a high point at this show was the appearance of U.S. Booklets and Booklet Panes, Volume I: Flat Plate Regular Issues, a project that was started by Don Littlefield and completed after Don's death by Sam Frank. Sam mentioned that this first volume benefited from peer review. There will be two more volumes, one for the rotary issues and another for the airmail issues. He said he will work on the airmail issues next as there should be only ten chapters, since there were only ten issues. He asked that those who have material or expertise to share for the airmail volume to contact him. The Encyclopedia of United States Stamp Collecting is due to be ready for the show in Washington, DC in 2006. Several chapters have been published in The Specialist. The entire volume will have 60 to 61 chapters. Rod Juell, the project coordinator, gave a comprehensive report to the Board on the progress. Steven Rod will help with the final editing. The book may have a higher than usual print quantity, as it should be a major reference work of interest not only to collectors, but also to libraries. Nick stated that the next Durland is in progress and should be ready in 2005. Nick also reported that Mike Perry is working on a revision to the Booklet Cover Checklist. The last update was published over 25 years ago. Chairman Roger Brody reported that he attended the banquet at the National Postal Museum where members George Brett and Barbara Mueller were honored with the Smithsonian Institution's Philatelic Achievement Award. Roger accepted the award for George who was unable to attend. This is the second year that these awards have been given and three of the six recipients are well known members of USSS. Many of Barbara's valuable contributions to this Society were mentioned when her award was presented. Nick stated that he hoped to have a series of seminars at Washington 2006, and he asked that those interested in making a presentation contact him. This would be similar to the series that the Society presented at Pacific 97. Roger added that there may be a variety of events involving the Society at the 2006 show; he suggested that when/if events are announced, interested persons sign up early. A copy of Patrick Murphy's 1¢ Washington-Franklin exhibit will be added to Bob Toth's photocopy service. There are presently thirteen exhibits offered. Nick suggested that when one is planning to dispose of an exhibit, or break it up, that a copy of the exhibit be made for the service. Editor Len Piszkiewicz reported that The Specialist can always use articles by members. He could especially use three to four page articles, and articles about more modern material. See you all in Indianapolis in July, 2005.
- Roger S. Brody Members who stopped by the Society table included the following:
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