Reminder postcards were sent out in January to those of you who have not paid your dues for 2008.  If you do not respond promptly, this will be your last issue of The Specialist.  The annual dues of $25.00 (foreign members extra for postage) buys you an excellent monthly journal on U.S. philately, discounts on Society books, two free ads per year in The Specialist, and access to research papers, reprints, and copies of member exhibits.  Please renew now before you forget.  You will be doing a service both to yourself and to the Society.

—Larry Ballantyne

Nominations are now open for the first annual United States Stamp Society – Barbara R. Mueller Award for the best article to appear in 2007 in The American Philatelist, monthly magazine of the American Philatelic Society.  The award includes a cash payment of $1,000 and recognition on a permanent plaque in the APS editorial offices at the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.  APS members can vote by completing and mailing the form available at the bottom of the inside front cover of the January, 2008 issue of The American Philatelist.  Members can also vote online at www.stamps.org.  For a list of the 78 articles by 46 authors in the 2007 American Philatelist that qualify to be considered for the award, go to the APS home page at http://www.stamps.org and scroll down to “Vote for Your Favorite AP Article.”

Votes for the best article of 2007 must be received by March 1, 2008.  The USSS-Mueller Award Committee will select the winner from the top five as voted on by APS members and the top five as selected by the staff of The American Philatelist.  The 2007 USSS-Mueller Award winner will be announced in the August, 2008 issue of The American Philatelist, and at APS StampShow 2008, on August 14-17, in Hartford, Connecticut.

The United States Stamp Society founded the award, not only to promote research and philatelic writing, but also to promote the USSS, its goals and its mission — to expand the study of and knowledge about U.S. postage and revenue stamps — to the more than 43,000 members of the APS, approximately 80 percent of whom collect U.S. material.  The American Philatelist, which has been the journal of the society for the past 120 years, publishes articles on the stamps, postal history and collecting specialties of all nations, and goes to APS members in 110 countries around the globe.  The award is named for the USSS and for one of its most prominent members, authors and editors, Barbara R. Mueller.  Among her many other honors in six decades of devotion to philately, Mueller, a member of the Halls of Fame of both the USSS and APS Writers Unit 30, was the recipient of the APS John N. Luff Award in 1956 for Distinguished Philatelic Research.

Here are the United States Stamp Society medal winners that have been reported from recent shows:

Award winners, please note: If you have won a USSS award and have not seen it reported here, it is because the show committee has failed to return the requested award report. If you would like to be listed, please send the information to Denise Stotts at P.O. Box 690042, Houston, TX 77269-0042 or by e-mail.

Show Awards Chairs, please note:

USSS AWARDS PROGRAM

The USSS Gold Statue of Freedom Medal is sent automatically to all APS World Series of Philately shows.

The USSS Silver President’s Award medal is available upon request to all local and regional shows.

For more information, or to request an award, please write to Denise Stotts, P.O. Box 690042, Houston, TX 77269-0042 or by e-mail.

NOTE: Awards were sent to the following shows, but no report was returned – if you have information about who won the award, please let me know:

• Milcopex
• Omaha
• Vapex
• NewMexPex
• Worthington (OH)