[press release]
Gibson Named AFDCS Executive Secretary
Debra “Deb” Gibson has been named executive secretary of the American First Day Cover 
Society, the largest not-for-profit organization for FDC collecting in the world.
The AFDCS Central Office is now in Somerset, Wis., 30 miles from Minneapolis. The mailing address is PO Box 57, Somerset, WI 54025-0057. The office telephone number, however, remains (540) 940-1629 and the email address still is afdcs@afdcs.org.
Gibson spent more than 29 years in the U.S. Air Force, initially on assignment as a Romanian linguist for the National Security Agency. She spent most of her career in intelligence, with postings all over the country. Deb met her husband, gold-medal FDC exhibitor Rick Gibson, during a joint exercise in England.
She has volunteered for the American Red Cross and the Herwitz Breast Cancer Fund in Frederick, Md. She received a B.S. from St. Cloud University and a M.S. in Strategic Intelligence from American Military University.
Deb goes to many stamp collecting shows each year with Rick, even though she is not a collector. Many of the photographs from past AFDCS conventions were taken by her.
“I have enjoyed getting to know collectors,” she says. “This brings me into the hobby just a little more!”
As executive secretary, Gibson also will be a member of the Executive Committee. She joins the AFDCS leadership at an exciting time. Not only is the AFDCS a co-sponsor of the annual Great American Stamp Show and publisher of the award-winning journal First Days, it has also just inaugurated a new member information system that is fully integrated with its new website. Most member access to the site’s features are now automated.
The AFDCS also publishes handbooks, catalogs and multimedia programs and sponsors an annual cachetmaking contest and philatelic exhibit awards. Its next convention will be at GASS 2025 on August 17-20 in Schaumburg, Ill., but will sponsor its own show, Americover 2026, the following year.
For more information on the society, visit www.afdcs.net or write to the AFDCS at Box 57, Somerset.
