George Washington Masonic Stamp Club

    
The Magpie Mason endorses philately, especially as an affordable, accessible form of art collecting.

The George Washington Masonic Stamp Club will host its annual meeting Sunday, February 27 at the George Washington Masonic Memorial for its 55th anniversary celebration and a conferral of “Master of Philately.”

The day’s schedule:

1 to 2 p.m. – Assemble, socialize, and review Covers.

2 to 4:45 – Meeting, followed by Master of Philately.

4:45 p.m. – Meet at Joe Theismann’s Restaurant (at the foot of Shooter’s Hill).

5:30 p.m. – 55th Anniversary Dinner. Ladies/guests invited. Dutch treat dinner; order off the menu.

Walter Benesch, GWMSC President, will be the keynote speaker, discussing “The History of Philately” with a slideshow and Q&A.

If you have not received the Master of Philately from the GWMSC, you may receive it with the others planning to attend. Please notify/reserve in advance with Secretary John Allen at gwmsc1956(at)gmail.com so your certificate will be properly prepared.

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GWMSC President’s Message

Winter 2011

This February 27 will be a very busy meeting. As is the tradition, we will meet in the North Lodge Room of the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia. The meet, greet, and cover-trading will start at 1 p.m. Unfortunately, all the “Masonic Cowboys of the Silver Screen” covers, which were issued at the BALPEX meeting, have been sold (I think), but there will be a lot of other covers available.

The meeting will follow at 2 p.m., with the election of new members and the usual business (which is usually very short). This will be followed by the conferral of the Master of Philately. All those who have been accepted into the Club, but have not received the degree can receive it at this time (at no extra cost, but you must be present to receive the degree). It is only at the Winter meeting that the Degree is conferred. After the Degree, elections will follow. This meeting will be the beginning of the 10th year I have served as your President. I would love to turn it over to another dedicated philatelist but will serve another term if it is the will of the Club. Alas, until the 1990s, it was generally only a two-year term.

As is the tradition, after the meeting, we will retreat to Joe Theismann’s Restaurant for a dinner. We will order off the menu, and while the kitchen prepares our food, we will present a PowerPoint program titled “The History of Philately.” We have gained many new members over the past few years, many are new to collecting, and this will be a very appropriate talk for these new members, and hopefully for experienced collectors too. I know everyone will enjoy the illustrations.

Happy New Year to you all. Please come to our meeting and join the fun. Even better, bring a bunch of new applications and applicants to receive the degree.

Walter P. Benesch,
President, GWMSC