PENPEX and the Sequoia Stamp Club support the work of the Girl and Boy Scouts of America and the work that they do. The USPS recently recognized the Girl Scouts with a new issue.
The Girl Scouts have a collecting and hobby badge at all levels. Scouts may want to check out the Scouts on Stamps Society International (SOSSI), a nonprofit philatelic organization specializing in the collecting, study, and enjoyment of stamps and other postal items celebrating the Boy Scout and Girl Scout (Guide) movements.
A Fun Fact from SOSSI
How many Scout Stamps are there? This might be the first thing you might ask. There are now over 1500 [1977 total] Boy and Girl Scout [Guide] stamps issued by over 100 different countries. New Scout Stamps are issued every year by one country or another. 25th, 50th, and 60th anniversaries, National and international jamborees are typical events that are commemorated or honored. Single stamps, sets and souvenir sheets are issued.
Text of USPS press release on new scout stamp:
“Monday, March 12, marks the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts. To commemorate this milestone, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the First-Class Celebrate Scouting Forever Stamp this June as part of the Girl Scouts’ Rock the Mall celebration in Washington, DC.
The stamp features a large silhouette of a girl with binoculars looking into the distance — perhaps sighting a soaring bald eagle or a faraway destination. The scene within the silhouette features a girl in mid-stride with a walking stick, shorts and backpack on a summer trek. The environment is composed of large redwoods, a lake, a distant forested mountainside and small ferns in the foreground, with a blue sky as it appears in early morning or late evening.
Celebrate Scouting, the “sister” stamp to the 2010 Scouting stamp, pays tribute to scouting organizations for the opportunities and pleasures they have provided millions of youths worldwide. The artwork for both stamps was created by Craig Frazier of Mill Valley, CA, under the art direction of Derry Noyes of Washington, DC.
Since the birth of the scouting movement more than a century ago millions of youths have learned to find valuable, lifelong skills and confidence acquired through scouting. Some of the first scouting experiences provided opportunities to hike, camp, study first aid and learn to tell time by the stars.
Customers may view the Celebrate Scouting Forever Stamp, as well as many of this year’s other stamps, on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps, through Twitter @USPSstamps or on the website Beyond the Perf at beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview. Beyond the Perf is the Postal Service’s online site for background on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.”