Stamp collecting is a great activity that can offer safe, social distancing

It was a beautiful July day, the cherry trees near Skaha Lake loaded with fruit. Only a few small clouds crossed the blue sky and a light north breeze rustled the stamp packets.

Stamp packets?

Yes! In the 47 years of the Penticton and District Stamp Club’s existence, the COVID-19 pandemic recently brought about its first-ever outdoor stamp event.

The brainchild of president John Greene, the virus-safe yard sale included: masks de rigueur, names of attendees recorded for potential contact tracing, hands sanitized, and proper distancing enhanced by a gradual entry into the table area by drawn lot.

It seems like a lot of trouble, but the club had last met on March 1 and members were more than ready to get together again if it could be done safely. Donated material was building up in basements, garages and dens and spouses were ready to see it gone.

In normal times, club auctioneer Wayne Dods puts on his bowler hat and smoothly disposes of donated items. In 2008, member Addie Evans came up with the idea of sending extra auction funds to the Cancer Society. Since then, a total of about $48,000 has been donated to a variety of local charities.

Our largest single donation was $30,000 to outfit a room in the new Penticton Regional Hospital tower. We are quite sure that we are the only stamp club in Canada that has a hospital room named after it. It’s on the third floor — look for the plaque if you’re there.

In general, stamp collecting does tend to be a pandemic-resistant hobby. Other than monthly club meetings, it is usually a solitary process of sorting, mounting in albums and researching your stamp interests. Even in the severest quarantines, a collector is free to travel anywhere in the world.

Yes, and time travel is possible. Why, only this morning I was working on a small collection of Libyan stamps just acquired at the aforementioned yard sale. Before lunch, I had witnessed a Roman galley leaving Tripoli, saw evidence of a cruel Italian occupation, met King Idris in 1952, watched the first Libyan oil pipeline open in 1961, was caught up by a crowd waving copies of Muammar Gaddafi’s Green Book, and then saw scenes of blood and destruction after the 1986 American air attack.

Back before anyone noticed, I was gone. And to replenish supplies of stamps, innumerable stamp dealers, and eBay (watch for fakes) are only a few clicks away. If you are feeling pressure to limit spending but are low on stamps to play with, may I recommend a fine source of philatelic information and entertainment?

There are a lot of stamp videos on YouTube, but I most enjoy the three seasons, 85 videos, of “Exploring Stamps.” Host Graham Beck has a fine South African accent and a passion that makes any subject a good story. How about stamp tongs (the little tweezer-like things that stamp collectors use to handle stamps)? Boring, you say? Well Beck actually travels to Solingen, Germany to see where they are made, and makes it an interesting tale for anyone. COVID-bored? Check him out, collector or non-collector.

So the yard sale proceeded safely, and the weather behaved. 27 members and a few spouses attended, and once you figured out who was under the mask, sunglasses, and Tilley hat, a good social time was had by all. Oh yes, we raised over $400 for charity; we may have to try this again before the snow flies.

We can always use more donations of old collections or whatever stampish. If you have something, please call John Greene at 250-493-6955, or Harv Baessler at 250-4924301.

Postage Paid is a column penned collectively by the Penticton Stamp Club.