[press release]
AFDCS Zoom Program: Computer Cachetmaking Made Easy
Free Online Presentation January 16

Peter McClure, the designer behind most of the first day covers produced the AFDCS Cachetmakers Series, will tell how he does it, and how you can do it, too, in a free American First Day Cover Society online video presentation, “Computer Cachetmaking 101:  The CEC Method.” It will be offered live on Zoom on Sunday, January 16, at 8:00 pm EST, and available afterward on an upcoming AFDCS YouTube Channel.

McClure has been making cachets as “CEC” — short for “Cuv Evanson” — since 2011. Although he no longer produces CEC FDCs for commercial sale, he is the “CEC” found on recent AFDCS covers. (The “FM” is AFDCS Sales Chair Foster Miller, who handles the business aspects.) “Cuv Evanson” was a joke used for family business telephone calls.

For his cachets, Peter uses a desktop computer running Windows, a Canon inkjet printer and an obsolete graphics program, “Microsoft Home Publisher 99.” All the artwork is found on the internet, books and magazines. In his presentation, he will explain how he finds the material, processes it and, eventually, prints it onto first day covers.

A former high-end retail store manager, McClure has no formal art training, yet his cachets are among the best sellers for many issues. Many of the designs have a touch of whimsy in them. You can see the currently available FDCs he has designed at www.afdcs.org/afdcstore01.html [examples are shown here; click for larger versions]

The Zoom address for “Computer Cachetmaking 101:  The CEC Method” is https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85814568456?pwd=VUtCbktNM3J2WjVpYm9nMzVDb3pPQT09 or the meeting ID 858 1456 8456 with a passcode of 858603.

Membership in the AFDCS is not required to attend the seminar, but, with memberships starting at $24 for Internet-only access or $35 with the printed magazine, it is very affordable and a good asset for any first day cover collector.

The AFDCS publishes handbooks, catalogues, directories and a bimonthly award-winning journal, First Days. The society also advocates for first day cover collecting and exhibiting, and is a co-host of Great American Stamp Show, which next will be held August 25-28, 2022, in Sacramento, Calif.

For more information on the AFDCS, visit its website www.afdcs.org, email afdcs@afdcs.org or write to the society at Post Office Box 246, Colonial Beach, VA 22443-0246.