At the Sequoia Stamp Club 2015 season midpoint, I have been impressed with the quality and substance of our meetings. Our members have stepped up to offer fun activities, lively auctions, and worthwhile presentations. Our VP, Jim Giacomazzi, has managed the Larry Christiansen consignment sale in two phases thus far. The May auction was our most successful live auction to date. In April, Ken Lewetzow and Wally Joliff presented our annual Philatelic Quiz. I won’t look at newspaper stamps the same way again.
The six member presentations so far have been particularly strong. In February, Jim presented “The Berlin Airlift,” a web-based presentation detailing the role of the “Candy Bomber.” Ed Rodriquez presented “Inca Mailmen.” Without written word, the Incas predated the Pony Express by centuries. Who knew a messenger’s belt could hold so much information? Kristin Patterson educated us on early revenues in which she specializes. She provided depth of knowledge during her talk “Due to the Civil War.” You can view it below.
In May, Larry Christiansen gave a presentation on Wake Island. His first-hand ac-
count may well be the closest any of us will come to the island, as it is closed to non-authorized personnel. Cathy Phalen provided an overview of “Airmail Etiquettes,” cinderella stamps issued by a number of private print houses from many countries. Many labels varieties exist, as they were not produced under any official edict. The talk was a great effort for a (cough) non-member to put forth. Our latest presentation by Ed Bierman on the “100th Anniversary of the Panama Pacific Exposition” gave a great sense of the architecture and other interesting features of the exposition.
Let’s hope we can enjoy the same caliber of activities, auctions, and presentations in the latter half of 2015. Looking over the calendar of upcoming scheduled events below, I think there is no doubt that this will be the case.
Craig Butterworth, Sequoia Stamp Club President