Distinguished Philatelist

GREATER MILWAUKEE AREA

DISTINGUISHED PHILATELIST

Since 1986, the stamp collecting community of the Greater Milwaukee Area has gotten together annually to honor one of their own with an evening of great food and good fellowship. Each of the participating clubs in the Milwaukee area, now nine in number, selects one of their members to serve on the Distinguished Philatelist Committee. Each year a different club is host for the event and that club's representative serves as the committee chairman. This committee meets several times to determine the date, location and other details of the event. Nominees for this honor which are presented to the committee are considered and a final selection is made by the committee.

Any individual who has had an impact on stamp collecting and who is some way has had a connection with the Milwaukee area is eligible to be nominated for the Greater Milwaukee Area Distinguished Philatelist. Any club or individual may nominate a person for this honor. Once a person has been selected, the nomination must be presented to a member of the committee who then takes it to a committee meeting for consideration. To be considered, a write-up on the nominee's contributions should be submitted, so that a fair and impartial review can be done by the committee. This allows those members who do not know of the nominees' contributions to read and consider all of the contributions of all nominees. The write-up should contain the qualifications and accomplishments of the nominee, such as club affiliations, volunteer contributions to the hobby such as committees served on, club officers served, stamp event contributions, honors received, etc. Of course, the longer the list, the more apt the individual is to be the final choice for this honor. A well-written write-up is advantageous, although not absolutely required.

The committee has established the following as the necessary criteria for selection for this honor. The person must "visibly and repeatedly demonstrate an interest in the hobby of stamp collecting, and in developing the interest and enjoyment of the hobby for others."

Each of the participating clubs makes a monetary contribution to the committee for operating capitol. This pays for entertainment, door prizes, honoree award presentations, etc., as well as allowing for some subsidizing of the cost of the dinners.

A souvenir card is developed each year that includes a picture of the honoree and a listing of his or her accomplishments. The card includes an appropriate stamp and a special post-office cancel. The opposite side of the card includes the criteria statement with the honoree's name included. It also pictures some local landmark that usually relates to or has some meaning for the honoree. These cards are limited in quantity with only 125 to 150 cards being printed each year. They are somewhat scarce and are in demand as a collectible.

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Last Modified: 02/14/06