Craig Butterworth, 2015 Club President
Sadness, happiness, and hope for the future; not what I expected out of a stamp club when I joined. I was under the impression that stamp clubs were all about trading stamps. I don’t believe I’ve actually traded stamps with anyone. I’ve given some. I’ve been given a lot more. Really. What I’ve experienced with this club runs the gamut of fulfilling life events.
Sadness, to be sure, is part of many of those events. We are all sorry to have experienced the loss of two of our most active and engaging members, Larry Christiansen and Charles Dymond. Both will be remembered for enhancing our lives, improving our club experience, and adding to our collections.
We get also to share our wealth, and in the joy of others’ accomplishments. We have provided a $500 scholarship to Elizabeth Gaddini, a rising Freshman at University of Georgia. We expect to be able to contribute further to our community through the proceeds of some generous recent donations.
My hope for our future lies within our membership. Our members – including the aforementioned – have been supporting us in life and in death. We have the same
enthusiastic core of individuals guiding the Sequoia ship that we did when I joined five years ago. We have also some rising stars who show regularly and participate in every activity and function. Erwin Schmidmeister comes to mind, for one. Chris Palermo, also, has dived into our club with a presentation, material for our auctions, and announcements of philatelic interest in his short 10 months with us.
I look forward to more of “More Than Stamp Collecting” as we move into our next quarter.
Craig Butterworth