BNAPS Atlantic Provinces Regional Group General Information
The Atlantic Provinces Region includes all four of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The contact person is J. A. (Jack) Forbes Jr.. Jack's mailing address is Box 2010, Dartmouth, NS B2W 3X8.
Notes on the Meeting of the Atlantic Provinces Regional BNAPS Group held at NOVAPEX-2009, September 25, 2009 Fourteen members of the Atlantic Provinces Regional Group gathered at the Dartmouth Sportsplex to participate in discussions and Show-and-Tell presentations, as part of the Nova Scotia Stamp Club's annual Novapex Exhibition and Bourse. Three members from Fredericton supplemented the Halifax area delegation.
Jack Forbes opened the meeting with a welcome, and, together with Gary Steele and went on to update those in attendance on the events at the annual BNAPS Convention, Exhibition, Bourse and Meetings, at Kingston, Ontario.
The Show-and-Tell segment of the meeting had several participants:
Ron Smith presented an O. H. M. S. Registered cover which was postage free, but which had a 2 Cents R.L.S. that was required to cover the cost of Registration. A second item was a stampless Military cover, part of a larger correspondence which extended to the Riel Rebellion. Gary Steele brought in a variety of BNAPS-Published books, featuring various collections and the new R. P. O. Study. He pointed out that our organization is steadily providing a supply of reference material which is invaluable to BNA collectors, and with the 40% Discount afforded to members, the cost of an annual membership is soon recovered when these books are purchased. A nice, single-useage 4-hole O. H. M. S. Peace issue cover completed his presentation. Rob Lunn spoke about the number of Map Stamps being featured in up-coming Auctions, and showed a recently acquired cover from that issue. Jeff Parks had just returned from Stampex in London, England, and he had found some items for his exhibit on the Halifax stamp. Jack Forbes passed around a scan of five unaddressed Half-Cent Small Queen covers. These had all been cancelled with a St. John, N. B. Canada, SP 16 97 Squared Circle, and were known to have never entered the mail stream. There was some discussion as to how this could happen, but no definitive conclusion was reached. Also circulated was the draft of an article on usage of the Eight Cents Small Queens, using a calendar collection as source. This article should appear in an up-coming issue of Topics. A page of cleverly produced Victorian fakes, originating in the Ukraine was also circulated. While these would not fool an experienced collector, less well-informed ones might easily be tricked. Claude Michaud was asked to comment on the current state of the philatelic market, and he felt that the market was still strong for the more exotic and scarce items but that prices seem to be weak for the more common material.
There were discussions on how often to try to hold Group meetings, and it was felt that more effort should be expended in attempting to hold some gatherings at other centers in the region. It was noted that both Moncton and Fredericton have annual shows and either or both these locations could provide opportunities for us to get together. There was also talk of maybe a weekend event. We would appreciate hearing from our members who have ideas on this subject, particularly if they might be prepared to host a meeting at their location.
Report from the BNAPEX - NOVAPEX Meeting, August 29-31, 2008; by Jack Forbes Greetings!
Well, we've had quite a week-end in Halifax....the annual Convention attracted International Visitors; absolutely Stunning Exhibits; successful Dinners; Study Group Seminars and a very busy Dealers' Bourse!
Many of you were able to attend, and I hope you found the experience rewarding! The Judges claimed that we had the finest and largest group of Exhibits that have been seen at a National Show in at least 30 years, if not ever. Their enthusiasm resulted in 27 Gold Medals being presented, with an unprecedented three Reserve Grand Awards. BNAPS Atlantic members figured prominently in the BNA exhibits section, with Gary Steele copping the Horace Harrison Grand Award, and me getting one of the Allan Steinhart Reserve Grand Awards, as well as the Novice Award. Hugh Rathbun, John Eldridge, and John Walsh were the other Gold recipients from our area. Vermeils went to Paul Grimm and George Lafontaine, with Silver to Carl Munden and Silver-Bronze to Jeff Parks.
As you know, Novapex was held in conjunction with the BNAPS show, and many of our group had exhibits in that section as well. Golds were presented to Mary Pugh, Graham McCleave, Ron Smith, Gary Steele and John Eldridge; Vermeils to Myself and John Eldridge, Silvers to Elizabeth Sodero, Michel Savard, myself, and John Eldridge; with Silver-Bronzes to Sean Weatherup and Carl Munden.
Several members of our Fredericton members contributed to the Fredericton Stamp Club's One-Frame Team competition which ended up victorious, winning the David Cooper Memorial Trophy over three other teams!
A full Palmares will be featured in an up-coming issue of Portraits, in case I've missed someone.
The Study Group Seminars were well attended, and there was an overall sense that we had staged a truly successful Convention and Show.
I'd be pleased to hear from anyone from Atlantic with suggestions as to activities we should try to pursue over the next few months. I realize we are rather strung out geographically, but if there was interest in trying to have a meeting in a location other than Halifax, I for one would be prepared to give it a try.
The St. John's Club is planning a 2-day event for next May, so mark that on your calendar as a possible trip to the Rock.
Do feed us your ideas as to how this group should proceed.
Thanks!
Jack
February 2008 Meeting at NOVAPEX Eight members of the BNAPS Atlantic Regional Group met at the Inn on the Lake for lunch and discussion of stamp activities afterwards on February 16,08. Michael Peach also attended as a guest in addition to Jack Forbes, Carl Munden, Jeff Parks, Tony Thompson, Gary Steele, Sean Weatherup, Hugh Rathbun and Guy Jeffrey.
The highlight of the meeting was a gift from Carl Munden on CD of his Post Offices of Pre-Confederation Newfoundland. A very professional job with inscription on the CD front, listings and pictures on file.
Discussions centered around activities and matters relating to the BNAPS Annual show in Halifax this year with exhibits coming in, dealer registrations and auction activities included. One matter of interest to Jack's heart is the team competition with the BNAPS group planning on entering another five frames.
Each member brought something to discuss from Hugh's actual Cape Breton Post Office hammers including ones never used from Sydney Mines and North Sydney to Tony's Newfoundland Cod stamp study. Other items of interest were Guy's Small Queen stamp Plate varieties, Gary's Dead Letter Office pre 1898 material, Jeff's George VI Post Postes material' Jack's Fake Large & Small Queen Blocks sourced from the Ukraine and Sean's "rescued" Postal History items.
In view of the fact that we all seem to be trying to locate some particular philatelic item from time, it was decided to institute an electronic Classified Ads system, where once a month, a list could be circulated to all members of the Atlantic Regional Group to allow members to scout for items they might want to acquire or sell.
It was decided that this type of meeting was something that we would like to do in the future if proper locations could be found.
September 2007 Meeting at NOVAPEX
The Atlantic Regional Group met at the NOVAPEX show for our second annual meeting with approximately 15 members in attendance on Sept 16,2007. We were very pleased to have had Pat Burns from Argentina, and three Fredericton members who were in the city for NOVAPEX 2007 join us.
Jack Forbes attended the BNAPEX in Calgary and gave the group a review with the other members that had attended. Mention was also made by the BNAPS Executive on Young Collectors and Education as a priority in our organization. On that note a BNAPS Youth Scholarship was awarded to Alex Faulkner of Dartmouth in recognition of his efforts in competitive exhibiting.
Discussions mainly centered on the next BNAPS Convention in Halifax regarding exhibits, dinners, committee meetings, exhibits and other venues to allow for a great convention. Some exhibitors have indicated the numbers of frames they would be requiring already with a maximum of approximately 250 for the total show. The judges should start preparing soon.
Many members had entered exhibits in the Dave Cooper Memorial Team Competition at NOVAPEX 2007 which was well regarded and should continue forward to next year.
As meetings have been sporadic we will try to get together 3 to 4 times a year with collecting, trading and communications the main importance.
Exhibit books and some collection material were passed around for viewing.
November 18, 2006
The first meeting by metro members of BNAPS for the Atlantic Provinces Regional Group took place on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. Jack Forbes, Chairman presided over an informal group of members here with an emphasis on fun, with Gary Steele, Secretary/Treasurer, Carl Munden, George Lafontaine, Hugh Rathbun, Bob Soper, Gordon Smith, Sean Weatherup, and Jeff Wallace from the Island of Jersey via internet video/audio conference call link-up.
Many members were surprised to see the set-up with Jeff in on the meeting and enjoyed the new adventure of someone from four time zones away and being able to speak with him and see him live. This may be able to be done for a few other members from Newfoundland or New Brunswick that really can't make the trip but may have the ability to link up with our group.
Each member introduced themselves, and their collecting interests in a round-table format and then we showed a few items of interest or similarity to each person's area. Many areas of collecting actually crossover for the same individual or between various members.
Discussions were varied with ideas of what we can do for future meetings and where they could be held etc. In addition we viewed the promotional BNAPS Slide Show on CD. Feedback was very complimentary with nothing but positive comments wondering why we did not do this sooner.