Ken Trettin of Iowa will head the exhibits jury at Americover 2015, a World Series of Philately show that will be held Aug. 14-16 in Columbus, Ohio.
Trettin will be assisted by Janet Klug of Ohio, Kathy Johnson of Illinois, Mike Ley of Nebraska and Allison Cusick of Pennsylvania.
The prospectus is now available on the AFDCS Web site, www.afdcs.org, by regular mail from Kerry Heffner, 17656 K Street, Omaha, NE 68135-3491, or e-mail at exhibits@afdcs.org. The deadline for entering the Americover 2015 exhibition is June 1, 2015, or whenever the 160 available frames fill up.
The emphasis at Americover is on First Day Cover exhibits, and about three-fourths of each exhibit should consist of FDCs and related material. All three divisions (Postal, Illustrated Mail and Display) of the General class of exhibits will be accepted, as well as One-Frame and Youth exhibits.
Trettin edited The American Revenuer for more than 35 years, and is current editor of the annual American Philatelic Congress Books. In addition to revenues, his expertise includes postal history and display division exhibiting.
Ley specializes in British Commonwealth, particularly in the stamps and postal history of Burma, as well as United States. He is exhibit chairman for the Omaha Stamp Show and secretary of the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors.
Klug is chair of the U.S Postal Service’s Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee and a past president of the American Philatelic Society. Her judging expertise includes military postal history, first day covers, and display exhibits. She is currently working on a half dozen collections of FDCs, including the Ohio River Canalization and American Turners issues.
Johnson’s expertise is in the British Commonwealth area with a focus on Ceylon. She has exhibited first day covers of the Disabled American Veterans, Honoring U.S. Servicemen, and the American Pharmacy issues. She has served as president of the Junior Philatelists of America and treasurer of the APS.
Cusick has served as president of the American First Day Cover Society, was chairman of its expertizing committee and presently is a member of its Board. He collects and exhibits FDCs of the 1949 Edgar Allan Poe issue and contributed the FDC treatments to the sixth edition of the APS Manual of Philatelic Judging.
As a WSP show, the winner of the Grand Award at Americover 2015 will be part of the Champion of Champions competition at Stampshow 2016. Charles J. O’Brien III, winner of the 2014 Grand with “The Eagle Has Landed,” will represent Americover this summer in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The Americover 2015 Grand prize is again a crystal pyramid provided by the AFDCS’ Claude C. Ries Chapter. (A photo of the Americover 2011 Grand is shown here.)
In addition, if six or more competitive single-frame exhibits are entered, the Curtis B. Patterson Award recipient for the best single-frame exhibit will be invited to enter the APS Single-Frame Champion of Champions competition at AmeriStamp Expo in 2016.
Besides its Grand and Reserve Grand awards, Americover offers special awards from both the AFDCS and other philatelic societies, including ones for best exhibits of foreign FDCs, topical FDCs, pre-1931 FDCs, best exhibits by a novice and a youth, and best single-frame exhibit.
The three-day Americover 2015 will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Columbus-Worthington, and there is a special Americover room rate of $99. There also will be two bourses (commercial dealers and cachetmakers), a banquet, meetings, a youth table, a hospitality suite, live and silent auctions, seminars, a pre-show tour of the area, a post-show evening dinner event, and a U.S. first day ceremony. A forum by a postal official involved with first day covers is also on the schedule.
Unlike other WSP shows, Americover’s exhibit awards are not presented at its banquet (which is held Friday night), but at the AFDCS Business Meeting Saturday morning.
For more information on Americover 2015 and the AFDCS, contact the AFDCS at P.O. Box 16277, Tucson, Ariz. 85732-6277, email showinfo@afdcs.org or visit www.afdcs.org.
