The Rocky Mountain Stamp Show was held May 27 to 29 in a new venue at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds in Denver, which provided about 25 percent more space. The show hosted the WE (Women Exhibitors) Festival with other usual features, such as the Rocky Mountain Philatelic Library silent auction, What’s In Your Attic table and Youth Booth. Other participating societies included the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors, American Topical Association, Colorado Postal History, Polonus Polish Philatelic Society and the Rossica Society of Russian Philately.
The show’s multiframe grand award and the George Brett Cup for exhibits of 20th-century material went to Allen Don Jones for his “Establishing the U.S. Transcontinental Air Mail Service, May 15, 1918 - June 30, 1924.” Michael J. Ley received the multiframe reserve grand for Burma – The First Two Issues.” Michael T. Mahler’s “Thar She Blows! Fiscal History of U.S. Whaling, 1862-1872,” received the single frame grand.
The annual NAPEX show serving the Washington, D.C. area was held June 3 to 5 at its longtime venue at the Hilton McLean in Tysons Corner, Virginia. On Friday, the show included a United Nations first day ceremony for 10 World Bicycle Day stamps; on Saturday, there was a cachetmakers’ bourse.
The show hosted national conventions of the American Airmail Society and the France and Colonies Philatelic Society. Other groups with meetings at the show included the American First Day Cover Society Graebner Chapter, the U.S. Philatelic Classics Society Baltimore Washington chapter, the Germany Philatelic Society, the Canal Zone Study Group, the Society of Indo-China Philatelists and the Virginia Postal History Society. There was also a presentation by Elliot Gruber, director of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, titled “Post COVID: Increasing Impact in a More Virtual World.”
Hal Vogel received the multiframe grand award for his exhibit, “American Heroic Age Polar Expeditions.” The reserve grand went to Bradley G. Wilde for “SCADTA and the Isthmus of Panama.” Cliff Alexander’s “Wiley’s One Cent City Despatch Posts – Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD” received the single frame grand.
The late Al Kugel and his wife, Dottie.
NAPEX also presented service awards to John Warren and Patricia Kuch for their many years of outstanding service.
Individuals play an important role in making philately such a great hobby and unfortunately, our community has lost another giant. I was lucky enough to introduce the 2011 APS Summer Seminar Distinguished Philatelist Al Kugel, who at that point I had known for at least 15 years. Al was involved in philately since childhood. He attended Washington University of St. Louis, received his MBA from Harvard and then worked as an investment strategist for the same firm for more than 60 years.
The citation for Al’s 2005 APS Luff Award for Research indicated he had published 65 philatelic articles. By 2011 this had increased to 125 articles with significant numbers in the journals of the American Philatelic Society, Military Postal History Society, Postal History Society and Rossica journals.
While Al won the APS Luff Award for Research, he could have easily won for Service to Philately or the Society. He served as an officer for the Military Postal History Society, American Philatelic Council, Chicago Philatelic Society, and Collectors Club of Chicago. He served many years as the show chair for Chicagopex, was a nationally accredited judge, and with 45 plus multiframe exhibits and 100 plus single frame exhibits, was probably on speed dial for every World Series of Philately exhibit chair.
Al exhibited at every WSP show except AmeriCover and National Topical Stamp Show. While he earned every medal level offered from bronze to platinum, most of his awards were toward the high end and the first time he exhibited at a WSP show, he took home the grand award.
Al also served on the APS Finance Committee, Ethics Committee and Committee for Accreditation of National Exhibitions and Judges. He was an APS Tiffany Dinner speaker and generous donor who assisted in raising funds for the Gung Ho Room at the American Philatelic Center. He was also an APS StampShow volunteer along with his wife, Dottie, and granddaughter, Brittany.