NZSCC Stamp News On Line - APRIL 2002 April Daytime MeetingTo be held on Wednesday, 3 April from 1.00pm to 3.30pm in the Philatelic Centre, 67 Mandeville Street, Riccarton. Please ring your friends to remind them about it. Buy, sell or swap Bring your spare stamps or money. Don Walker is bringing the Exchange books.Raffles Don will have some items to raffle.March Evening Meeting This meeting was a busy one with thirty-two people present although there were more apologies than usual, including one from me. The following information comes from Jackie van der Plas, Steven McLachlan and David Fortune. Jackie says that the evening got off to a witty start with the puns getting worse and worse, such as Barry Ohlson ‘shining a light on the evening’ and Fred Saunders ‘getting stuck in’ with his self-adhesives. ‘Barry gave an enthusiastic talk on lighthouses - he obviously enjoys his subject very much. As well as stamps and cancellations, his display included cigarette cards and photos of lighthouses he had seen. His wife had made a beautiful cross-stitch picture of a lighthouse with a border of naval flags. He even had a wind up lighthouse, which turned and played the tune "Show me the way to go home..." It had a drunken sailor at its base. Barry received much encouragement to turn his collection into a competition entry for the club competition. Fred’s talk on self-adhesive stamps was fine and received a few questions and comments. He showed examples from different print companies and of printing and perforation errors.’ Steven then got Sue McIntosh to give a 5-minute talk about the Canberra Stamp Exhibition at which she was the New Zealand commissioner. He says ‘There was a state challenge as part of that show which was won by Western Australia followed by North Island, NZ for second and then South Island, NZ which was third. All other Australian states apart from the Northern Territories had a team entry. The South Island team included Graeme Muir’s New Postal Companies as the novice entry for which he won a Silver medal. (This was the collection we saw at our club meeting last month). We had great fun however, while Sue was talking about the Canberra show because somehow Barry Ohlson’s wind up lighthouse decided to spring back to action and while Sue was talking it started a very irregular playing of its tune!’ Geoff Tyson’s talk on Fire was enjoyable and informative, giving a history of fire prevention and fire fighting. A wide range of fire engines was depicted on stamps from all over the world. Commemorative issues brought home the fact that most cities have experienced at least one major fire. Geoff also had examples of mail damaged by fire, some during the war, or in a mail train hold-up. Others, closer to home were the result of fireworks or lit matches thrown into mailboxes. Silent displays of Flowers by Jackie and Poland by Don Walker added a colourful touch to the evening. Geoff and Iris Tyson won first prize in the raffle – a basket of Easter eggs. They said that they would take it with them on their way to Northpex, as they will be seeing lots of young relatives on their way there. A nice surprise was that Gordon Nairn had donated four decorated iced Easter eggs for the raffle. The winning entry of the one-page competition on ‘Transport’ was Wheelchairs on Stamps by Christine Haythornthwaite who had done up her page with great effect – everyone was delighted with the result. At the end, David Fortune asked about the 2002 inter club competition and Steven did a quick summary. All NZPF affiliated stamp clubs and societies may submit a team entry of five sixteen-page stand-alone entries from five different exhibitors. The four classes in the competition are postal history, traditional philately, thematic and entries not otherwise provided for (excluding postcards). The winning club receives a trophy and a $200 prize to spend at the NZ Post Philatelic Sales, Wanganui. News from here and there Steven McLachlan says that one of our members got a mention in The Press on Wednesday. Sandra Cron (an afternoon meeting attendee) was the first person in Christchurch to open a Kiwi Bank account when the Bank opened in the Cathedral Square Post Shop. The day after the Oscars were awarded, Steven saw a new Lord of the Rings stamp poster in the NZ Post Shop in Cathedral Square. ‘The message on the advertising poster was "Take home Oscar’s stamp of approval". NZ Post however, have this last week sold out of the Lord of the Rings maxi card sets and the Lord of the Rings Collectors’ pack. They sold very large quantities of these so they will be very pleased. Another oddity I observed in the Post Shop was a stamp packet by Philatelic Distributors Ltd containing a selection of old New Zealand mint stamps. Facing outwards were some 1948 Otago Centennial stamps. It seems strange (but true) that NZ Post is again selling 1948 Otago Centennial stamps!’ Steven noticed that one of our previous club members (and still a customer of his), Sister Basil from Riccarton recently appeared both in The Press and on Television One News. This was to do with her interesting life and the fact that at 90 years of age, she is still teaching regular French classes and is very popular. Steven says ‘I know her well and she is a dear soul with such a charming and appeal countenance that nobody could help but like her. I still remember the help she gave us when we set up a club display in Riccarton Mall back in the late 1970s.’
Stamp Fairs The next ones to be held – at the Church Hall, Corner Papanui Rd & Rugby St, Merivale from 9:30am to 1:00pm on Saturdays 6 and 20 April 2002. |
