Committee Reports from the 2005 Annual Board Meeting

Summary

Since our last annual meeting thirteen months ago at NOJEX 2004, the various committees and study groups within the USSS have been busy-very busy.

As was noted in the last committee summary report at NOJEX, the Dummy Booklets Study Group had lost its longtime chairman, Earl McAfee.  Last year we were very fortunate to have Terry Scott agree to assume that position.  As you will see from Terry's report, the group has a number of projects underway and is even considering expanding the scope of their studies.

During the year we also lost another experienced chairman, Gene Paquette, who had headed the Luminescence Study Group.  Fortunately, Gene has not gone to that big stamp show in the sky, but has merely decided he needs more time for other interests.  Wayne Youngblood, an individual well known to all of us, has stepped in to fill this void.  We are certainly fortunate to have such a capable individual as chairman.

Most recently, we were faced with the task of finding a new Indexer for The United States Specialist.  After fifteen years, Richard Hall decided to pass the torch and a request went out for a volunteer.  I was pleasantly surprised to receive not one, not two, but a number of replies from members willing to take on the job.  As you've read in The Specialist, Lynn Batdorf has been selected as our new Indexer and he already has some great ideas which I think the entire membership will benefit from as time goes on.

With the addition of these three individuals, our Society now has a full compliment of Chairpersons and Study Group Leaders who are willing and able to assist other members with questions and who will also guide their groups in the dissemination of new information about their specialties as they uncover it.

Although a formal report has not been included in these committee reports, it should be noted that the Durland committee has accomplished a Herculean task this year with the release of the new edition of our Durland catalogue at INDYPEX.  The project was complicated by the desire to expand the coverage area of previous editions and also by the change in the printing company's format.  This necessitated a complete reformatting of text and the rescanning of all the illustrations.  Wallace Cleland, Kim Johnson, Len Piszkiewicz, our plate number reporters, and all who contributed material used for the illustrations deserve our thanks for getting this edition completed.

Although this summary is traditionally used to point out new developments with our standing committees and study groups, I feel that this year it is important also to mention two groups that are not "standing committees" but whose work has been of great importance to the Society.

The larger of these "groups" is made up of our Encyclopedia editors, Steve Rod and Rod Juell, their assistants, Doug D'Avino and Lynn Batdorf, and all of the many members who have written the chapters for what I'm certain will be the most outstanding reference work ever produced by the Society.

The second "group" is much smaller, but the result of their work has been seen by all.  During the past year, Specialist editor Len Piszkiewicz and Chairman Roger Brody have accomplished a seamless transition to a new printing company for The Specialist and the improved quality of the journal is very evident.  They have also made the leap into color ads and illustrations with the long term hope of going to an all color publication.

As you will see in the individual reports that follow, our groups are very busy on a variety of both short and long term projects.  If you would like to help in any of these efforts, or just have a desire to learn more about a particular area of U.S. philately, I strongly encourage you to contact the chairperson of the group and let him or her know.  You'll be surprised how nice it feels to make a contribution to a worthwhile project and communicate with members who have similar interests.

- Nicholas A. Lombardi
President