Jay Bigalke, editor of American Philatelist, the official journal of the American Philatelic Society, is leaving to return to his former employer and become Editor-in-Chief at Linn’s Stamp News.
He is shown in the center of the photo on the right, buying stamps August 11 at Americover 2017 in Independence, Ohio.
Bigalke has been telecommuting to the APS, coming to headquarters in Bellefonte, Pa., one week a month while living in central Ohio with his wife and two sons.
Bigalke became AP editor in late 2014 at the age of 32. He had been senior editor for digital media at Linn’s, which is also headquartered in central Ohio, in Sidney.
He is an active first day cover collector who has attended many first day ceremonies. On the left, he is shown servicing first day covers for the Circus Posters souvenir sheet at Baraboo, Wisconsin, in late 2014.
“Under Jay’s leadership, the APS raised the standard of The American Philatelist from good to great,” APS executive director Scott English told The Virtual Stamp Club in e-mail. “Even though he is leaving our team, Jay is an APS member and collector to the core. We look forward to working with him in his new role.”
Well-known philatelic writer and editor Wayne Youngblood — and one of the most-popular people in U.S. stamp collecting — is the new editor of two top publications: American Stamp Dealer & Collector and Collectors Club Philatelist. The latter is published by the Collectors Club in New York City.
“Wayne, one of the most recognized names in the U.S. philatelic community, is a lifelong stamp collector who began before the age of 8 and never stopped. He has been an APS member for more than 40 years, serving nearly a decade on its board of directors. He also serves as an expertizer for American Philatelic Expertizing (for more than 25 years), and is the longest-term instructor at the APS Summer Seminar on Philately, where he has been lead instructor of the Stamp Technology course for more than 25 years.”
Shimon Peres – world renowned statesman, ninth President and Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, and a man who embodied action, vision and hope.
As Minister of Defense in 1974, Peres negotiated the interim agreement with Egypt. As Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in the 1980s, Peres conducted secret meetings with King Hussein of Jordan which constituted the basis of the historic peace agreement between Israel and Jordan. While serving as Israel’s Foreign Minister in 1994, Peres laid the foundation for future peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. In 1996, he pioneered the founding of the Peres Center for Peace, Israel’s leading NGO focused on developing and implementing innovative and cutting-edge peace building programs, in order to promote peaceful relations and co-existence between Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians.
The Hague, 7 August 2017 – PostNL is celebrating the Orange Lionesses’ championship victory with a pure silver postage stamp. This special issue portrays the amazing success of our untamed football ladies. PostNL has only issued silver postage stamps to commemorate a very select number of special events.
5203 (49¢) Sports Balls – Football
The unveiling of the U.S. Protect Pollinators stamps on Thursday, August 3rd. 
American Philatelic Society chief operating officer Ken Martin taking a photo of the Pollinators ceremony. That’s Barb Boal, former editor of the American Philatelist and now a volunteer for the American Stamp Dealers Association, in the white jacket standing in the neighboring National Stamp Dealers Association booth. Got all those affiliations straight? There will be a quiz later. 
Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee members before the Pollinators ceremony. 
Two views of the standing-room-only crowd at the Protect Pollinators ceremony. Below, APS president Mick Zais is speaking. 
There were intentionally not enough chairs at this ceremony for the anticipated crowd, to make it look well-attended — which it was.
The American First Day Cover Society brings Americover 2017, its annual show and convention, to the Hall of Fame Corridor this year — Interstate 77, which runs from Cleveland (Rock ‘n Roll) to Canton, Ohio (Pro Football)
Among the highlights during the show are the first-day ceremony for the Azulillo stamped card (postcard); the largest collection at any one venue all year of first day cover dealers; stamp dealers; the largest cachetmakers (new issue FDC producers) bourse of the year; a World Series of Philately national-level exhibition of rare and unusual first day covers; and the announcement of the winners of the annual AFDCS Cachet Contest, complete with visual displays.
The first-day ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Friday in the hotel’s atrium. Many of the dealers will be selling FDCs for the new stamped card, among other recent issues.
There is a special cachet for Americover 2017, and a different pictorial postmark for each day of the show.
The day before the show, many of those attending Americover 2017 will spend travel down Ohio’s “Hall of Fame Corridor,” Interstate 77, to the First Ladies National Historic Site, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Harry London’s Chocolate Factory. (The latter isn’t a hall of fame, but perhaps should be.) On Sunday evening, quite a few show participants will dine at Melt Bar & Grilled, famous for its grilled cheese 
sandwiches and craft beers. These two events are open to the public. There is a fee involved, however.
