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Americover 2010 Aims for the Stands
In The Chicago Area
August 6-8
The cry of “Play Ball!” will be heard at Americover 2010, as the annual American First Day Cover Society show and convention comes to the Chicago area August 6-8, 2010.
The show is being held at the Chicago Marriott Oak Brook. Admission and parking are free. The bourse hours are Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but at Americover shows, the events begin with breakfast and run well into the night.
In fact, the day before the show opens, Thursday, August 5, there's a “field trip” (complete with yellow school bus) to the Field Museum, which features permanent exhibitions on the Ancient Americas, Nature and Ecosystems, Rocks and Fossils, and dinosaurs. And after the show closes Sunday evening, some of those attending the stamp show will dine and be entertained at Tommy Gun's Garage, an audience interactive speakeasy featuring a musical comedy review "wit da gangsters and da flappers."
Among the highlights during the show are the largest collection at any one venue all year of first day cover dealers, the largest cachetmakers (new issue FDC producers) bourse of the year, a a seminar with a U.S. Postal Service official involved with first day covers, a World Series of Philately national-level exhibition of rare and unusual first day covers, and the announcement of the winners of the annual AFDCS Cachet Contest, complete with visual displays.
An unveiling ceremony for the new Negro Leagues Baseball stamps will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, August 6, in the Marquis Room of the Chicago Marriott Oak Brook, sponsored by the AFDCS, the Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections (ESPER), and the American Ceremony Program Society. Admission is free.
Two former Negro Leagues players, Johnny "Lefty" Washington and Hank "Baby" Presswood, will speak at the ceremony, along with representatives of theAFDCS, ESPER, ACPS and the U.S. Postal Service. Washington and Presswood will also be available to sign autographs and memorabilia after the ceremony.
The show cover for Americover 2010 celebrates the 55th anniversary of the AFDCS, as well as a baseball theme.
Because producing first day covers is a “hands-on” activity, it’s only natural that Americover 2010 has a youth area, where young people can make their own FDCs.
Former American Philatelic Society executive director Bob Lamb will staff an edition of the "Stamp In The Attic" program at Americover 2010, where people who have inherited or found collections can bring them for a quick evaluation, and possible referral to one of the dealers at the show. The booth will be sponsored by the National Stamp Dealers Association. There is no charge for the service, and both stamps and covers, as well as first day covers, will be evaluated.
The annual meetings of the American First Day Cover Society are being held just before or during Americover 2010.
In addition, the United Nations Philatelists is holding its annual meetings at Americover 2010. The general membership meeting is at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Winchester Room. UNP is devoted to the collection, study and exhibition of the issues of the United Nations Postal Administration, the postal history of the United Nations, the issues and postal history of its branches, specialized agencies and forerunners, as well as the world-wide topical issues that call attention to the United Nations, its agencies and programs.
Also meeting at the show are the Chicagoland FDC Society, American Ceremony Program Society, The Virtual Stamp Club (AFDCS Chapter #84), the Space Unit ATA/APS, Art Cover Exchange and the 7-1-71 Affair (Chapter #50).
Even when the dealers bourse closes down for the evening, Americover 2010 will continue. The President’s Banquet, where the winners of the Cachet Contest, will be announced, is Friday evening. The Cachetmakers Bourse is Saturday evening, followed by an informal sandwich meal, for cachetmakers and others. Sunday, after the show closes, there’s the trip to Tommy Gun’s Garage.
Reservations for the Field trip, banquet, post-Cachetmakers sandwiches and Tommy Gun’s Garage may be made on the AFDCS website, www.afdcs.org, until July 15.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, a hospitality suite operated by the Claude C. Ries (Southern California) and Robert C. Graebner (D.C./Maryland, Virginia), and Chicagoland FDC Society chapters will be open, complete with munchies, beverages and camaraderie. The suite normally operates from mid-evening until ... well, late.
Collectors are coming to Americover 2010 from all over the country. A “ride board” discussion will be posted in the message board of The Virtual Stamp Club, www.virtualstampclub.com, to enable Americover visitors to coordinate their transportation from area airports and stations.
More information on Americover 2010 is available on the AFDCS Web site, www.afdcs.org, by e-mail from showinfo@afdcs.org or by regular mail from Norman Elrod, Americover Chairman, 641 Dogwood Trail, McMinnville, TN 37110-3015.
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