[press release]
The American Philatelic Society has conferred the annual Nicholas G. Carter Volunteer Recognition Awards. The awards are named for the APS president from 2007-2008 who helped create the awards. They are offered in four different categories: national, local, young adult and youth. All but the youth award require a minimum of five years of service to philately. [These awards will be presented at the General Membership Meeting, Saturday morning August 6th at StampShow in Portland, Oregon. – VSC]

National Promotion/Service

Don Chenevert joined the APS in 2003 and subsequently the society has welcomed three more of his family members: his father in 2007, his oldest son in 2009, and his daughter in 2013. Don has strongly served philately by chairing the Young Philatelic Leader Fellowship Advisory Board from 2010 through 2015, serving as an instructor of the Basic Stamp Collecting course of StampCampus since 2011, assisting with Stamp Collecting 101 workshops at APS stamp shows, and serving on the APS Membership Committee.

Joe Crosby has served as chair of the Okpex World Series of Philately show since 1997. He has competitively shown at least six different exhibits and had several articles published in the Chronicle of US Philatelic Classics, for which he has served as “Bank Note Period” editor. He has served on the board of the United States Philatelic Classics Society and as its fundraising committee chair. Joe helped establish the Classics Society Room at the American Philatelic Center.

Terry Dempsey joined the APS Membership Committee in 2011 and quickly agreed to serve as vice chair. Terry succeeded Steven Rod as committee chair and served in this position until August 2015, although he remains as a member of the committee. Under Terry’s leadership, a series of “Membership Matter” articles was begun in The American Philatelist. The Membership Committee also began providing biannual reports to the APS Board of Directors and at the general meeting for the APS winter and summer shows.

Kathy Johnson joined the APS as a junior member in 1976. She served as head of the British Commonwealth Study Group of the Junior Philatelists of America and served as president of the JPA during 1981 and 1982. She exhibited Victorian-era Ceylon and wrote a monthly column, “The Junior Philatelist” for The American Philatelist.

After a nearly 30-year hiatus from the hobby for career and family, Kathy attended the Women Exhibitors Seminar at the American Philatelic Center in 2009. Shortly thereafter, she returned for the Summer Seminar and volunteered to serve on the Membership and Long Range Planning committees. In November 2009, she was selected by the board to fill a vacancy for director at large. She them moved on to a full elected term as APS treasurer.

At the same time, Kathy became involved with the Chicago Philatelic Society and the Collectors Club of Chicago, doing extensive volunteer work for both organizations. Subsequently, she has become an accredited judge and recently captained the winning team in the competition at AmeriStamp Expo.

Denise Stotts joined the APS in 1990 by which time she already had a strong record of service to the hobby. In the 1980s she made a name for herself in Ohio serving the Euclid Stamp Club Show for 10 years and the Garfield Perry Stamp Club and Ohio Postal History Society before relocating to Houston, Texas. Despite her move to Texas she remains secretary of the Ohio Postal History Society and an active member of the Garfield Perry March Party Committee nearly 25 years later.

She no sooner arrived in Texas than she became a board member for the Houston Philatelic Society in 1993 and the following year began more than 20 years of service as show chair for the Greater Houston Stamp Expo. In 2000, she became awards director for the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors. In 2004, she assumed the same position for the United States Stamp Society and also became awards director for the Women Exhibitors in 2009.

Denise served as assistant director for volunteers for Washington 2006 and bin room coordinator for New York 2016. Here APS service includes membership on the Chapter Activities, Ethics and Election Review committees, the local committee chair for AmeriStamp Expo 1998, the Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship Advisory Board, and Director-at-Large from 2007 through 2011.

Local Promotion/Service

Mark Butterline is the executive director of the Boston 2026 World Stamp Show. He is president of the Northeastern Federation of Stamp Clubs and the assistant chairman of Philatelic Show (WSP show in Boxborough, Massachusetts). He is a past president of the Pitcairn Islands Study Group and a member of the Waltham Stamp Club, and the Philatelic Group of Boston. He also was in charge of volunteers for the recent World Stamp Show-New York 2016

Richard Colberg has served as treasurer of the Pennsylvania Postal History Society for the last nine years. Dick is the resident philatelic scholar for the Philatelic Society of Lancaster County. He is involved with the club’s annual show, Lancopex, including the main handling of the exhibit frames and exhibit mounting. He also did the same for the 2012 National Topical Stamp Show held in Lancaster. Dick has been president of the Lebanon Stamp Club for more than 20 years. Finally, we are grateful that Volunteer Week at the APS is on Dick’s calendar every summer.

Edie and Dale Eggen have served as society liaisons, meeting coordinators, and coordinate docent tours at Westpex for many years. There, volunteer service to the show was recognized with the Mae and Frank Vignola Service Award in 2009.

A member of at least a dozen stamp clubs, Glenn Estus has been particularly active in the Empire State Postal History Society and the Vermont Philatelic Society, for which he has served as president and webmaster. He was part of the organizing committee for Stamp Expo 400 held in Albany, New York, serves as auction manager for Sports Philatelists International and is active in stamp collecting message boards.

Vince King, serves as president of the Texas Postal History Society, and is the 2nd Vice President of the Texas Philatelic Association. As a member of the Collectors Club of Dallas, he served as the awards chairman and bourse chairman of Texpex. He was awarded the Texas Philatelic Association’s “2011 Distinguished Philatelic Texan” award for service and achievements in the field.

In more than 30 years of work, Bruce Roberts has influenced hundreds of collectors and has contributed dramatically to the growth and continuance of the hobby in Knoxville and throughout the Southeast. In 1980, Bruce was one of the founding members of the Expo City Stamp club in Knoxville, later named the Knoxville Philatelic Society. He has continued as a member for more than 25 years, and is one of only two founding members still in the club. Bruce served as president of KPS in 2005, exhibits chair for Knoxpex 2005, and bourse chair for more than 25 stamp shows in Knoxville and Oak Ridge between 1981 and 2003. He has served as exhibits chair for the Southeast Stamp Show several times.

Bruce also is an accomplished philatelist and philatelic researcher. He has published a number of articles in the national philatelic press, including, The Chronicle of the US Classics Society, The Confederate Philatelist, The Philatelic Exhibitor, The Ohio Postal History Journal and Tennessee Posts, the Journal of the Tennessee Postal History Society. Bruce is unquestionably the authority on the postal history of Arkansas, including pre-statehood. He began exhibiting his Arkansas Postal History exhibit at the local club level throughout the southeast more than three decades ago and has since won multiple WSP grand awards.

A specialist in New Jersey postal history, Robert G. Rose serves as president of the New Jersey Postal History Society and editor of its journal. He is chairman of the Philatelic Foundation, a regional vice president of the United States Philatelic Classics Society and chairman and board member of Nojex. He has lectured on various aspects of New Jersey postal history at The Collectors Club, the New York chapter of the U. S. Philatelic Classics Society, Stamp Show 2002, and Nojex.

Robert Stahl is a retired postal employee who has been a valuable contributor to the St. Louis Stamp Expo since 2006. He teaches children about the history of the post office and the history of stamps. Outside of the St. Louis Stamp Expo he talks to many grade school classes and Wee Deliver clubs that still exist. He has also runs many stamp design contests for youth.

Maurice D. Wozniak has collected stamps since the mid-1950s. Following a career that included serving as editor of Stamp Collector and The Stamp Wholesaler, Wozniak became a valuable volunteer at the local level including service as president of the Wisconsin Federation of Stamp Clubs. He was elected to its Hall of Fame in 2009 and continues to remain active currently serving as the Federation’s Northeast vice president and chair of the Hall of Fame Committee.

Outstanding Young Adult Philatelist (ages 25 to 40)

James Weigant has been a stamp collector since 1991 and an APS member since 2004. His primary collecting interests are 1898-1950 US commemoratives, 4th Bureau issues, U.S. airmail, and Osage County, Oklahoma postal history. He is a member of the Oklahoma Postal History Society, Tulsa Stamp Club, and the Petroleum Philatelic Society International. He has performed a number of projects for the APS membership committee, including reviewing all APS affiliate websites to see if they include the APS logo, and/or links to the APS website, and making phone calls to new members to see if they have any questions. James also serves as a stamp collecting merit badge counselor for the Boy Scouts.

James attended his first APS StampShow in 2011 and subsequently joined the YPLF Advisory Board. In 2014, he and three other young collectors came up with the concept of the Young Friends of the APS, for APS members between ages 20 and 50. He now serves as informal chief organizer for the group which has met at the last three APS summer and winter shows. James exhibited for the first time at Okpex 2014 and has written a few philatelic articles.

Outstanding Young Philatelist (ages 15 to 24)

In 2010, at age 13, Casey Cook became a member of the Young Stamp Collectors of America. Two years later, he was accepted as a Young Philatelic Leader Fellow. Following his year as a fellow, Casey joined the YPLF Advisory Board as alumni coordinator. Casey has continued to attend most of the APS summer and winter shows where he has served as a mentor for YPLF fellows and provided volunteer assistance. He assists with the YPLF Facebook page and blog and has written for the newsletter for YPLF supporters. He also wrote a paper on the U.S. banknotes for school.