At the 82nd annual meeting of members of The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada (RPSC) held in Windsor, Ontario May 28-30, 2010, Charles J.G. Verge, Secretary to The RPSC Fellows, announced three new candidates had been invited to sign the Roll of Fellows of the Society.

To qualify for Fellow status, candidates must meet at least one of the following criteria: they have actively worked for the betterment of the RPSC; they have promoted Canadian philately extensively through writing; and/or have, through a number of activities, made Canadian philately better at the international level. They must also be members of The RPSC.

The three new Fellows are Dr. Sammy Chiu, Dr. David Piercey, and Garfield Portch.

The RPSC is pleased that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II graciously agreed to sign the Roll of Fellows to commemorate the 50th anniversary (in 2009) of her granting The RPSC the use of the title “Royal”. She did so in Toronto during her 2010 Royal Visit to Canada.

The Society took the opportunity of her signing the Roll of Fellows to thank Her Majesty for her support for The RPSC and philately in Canada. In addition to granting the Society the title “Royal” she has promoted Canadian philately by agreeing to display portions of the Royal Philatelic Collection at least six times in Canada and at several other exhibitions throughout the world. She has also allowed material from the Collection to be used for expertisation purposes and for illustrations in articles and books.

Dr Sammy G. Ling Chiu has been a prominent researcher and author as well as a gold-medal-winning-exhibitor. He is co-author of Postage Due and the Handling of Underground Mail of Hong Kong, and he was editor of the Postal History Society of China Journal (PHoSCH) from 2001-2004. He has also been a frequent contributor to China Clipper, Journal of the China Stamp Society (US) as well as a contributor to the Hong Kong Philatelic Society and the Hong Kong Study Circle publications. He is also an international level philatelic judge.

Dr. David Piercey is serving a second two-year term as a director of the RPSC, and he has chaired the society’s judging program for five years. In the latter capacity he has worked hard to make exhibiting and judging more user friendly. His study North of Sixty: The Postal History of the Canadian Northwest Territories won the PHSC Frank Campbell Award. He has won gold medals for his exhibits and he is a national level philatelic judge. Piercey is a member of numerous societies for stamp collectors as well as a hard worker for the hobby.

Garfield Portch has served philately in various executive positions and as an organizer for many stamp exhibitions, including co-chair at four STAMPEX shows in Toronto and co-chair for ROYAL*2007*ROYALE in Toronto. He has published in PhilaJournal and he prepared the Small Queens chart in the Unitrade Specialized Catalogue of Canadian Stamps. He has exhibited extensively winning several gold medals. He has been volunteer membership co-ordinator in the RPSC National Office since 2007 and a volunteer at the Greene Foundation.

Charles Verge said “the new Fellows of the Society have made an important contribution to stamp collecting and philatelic knowledge throughout Canada and the Americas. The new group are a credit to the hobby and will serve as wise counsel.” George Pepall, President of the RPSC, said he “appreciates the wide experience of the new fellows because they have given much to the hobby. Their overall contribution is immense.”

Information on The RPSC can be had by e-mail at info@rpsc.org or by visiting the Society's website at www.rpsc.org, or by calling 416-979-8874, toll free 1-888-285-4143.

For more information contact:

Michael O. Nowlan, FRPSC 506-357-2698
Margaret Schulzke, FRPSC 1 888-285-4143