Rochester postmark for baseball fan and stamp honoree Robert Panara

Postmark Pursuit — By Michael Baadke

The Rochester Red Wings baseball team, the AAA minor league affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, paid tribute July 23 to Robert Panara (1920-2014), the deaf studies pioneer who taught at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y.

In association with the Rochester post office, fans visiting Frontier Field for the game between the Red Wings and the Toledo Mud Hens received a souvenir postcard honoring Panara, a baseball fan and longtime Red Wings supporter.

Panara was previously honored by the United States Postal Service on April 11 with the issuance of a nondenominated (70¢) 2-ounce rate stamp in the Distinguished Americans definitive series (Scott 5191).

The Postal Service had a table set up at the ballpark on Sunday and offered the Panara stamp and a commemorative postmark honoring both the team and its famous fan.

“A lot of people think a bobblehead is a big deal,” Red Wings general manager Dan Mason told Spectrum News, “but to get a stamp with your image on it is just amazing.”

Panara’s son John, an English instructor at the RIT National Technical Institute for the Deaf, participated in the day’s events.

To obtain the Rochester Red Wings postmark celebrating Robert Panara, address your request to:

FRONTIER FIELD Station, Station Manager, 216 Cumberland St., Rochester, NY 14603-9998, July 23.

Baseball fans also will want to take note of the July 30 postmark from Cooperstown, N.Y., marking the Induction Day ceremonies for 2017, when the National Baseball Hall of Fame will welcome its newest members: Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, Ivan Rodriguez, John Schuerholz, and Bud Selig.

The Induction Day postmark shows the hall’s logo illustrating a baseball and a shield, and is available from:

INDUCTION DAY Station, Postmaster, 40 Main St., Cooperstown, NY 13326-9998, July 30.

The following cancels are also available:

100th ANNIVERSARY WOODRIDGE Station, Postmaster, 47 Broadway, Woodridge, NY 12789-9998, July 26. (Speeding locomotive, railroad crossing sign, “1917-2017.”)

NEW HAMPTON Station, Postmaster, 108 N. Chestnut, New Hampton, IA 50659-9998, July 27. (Bicycle.)

NATIONAL SCOUT JAMBOREE Station Closing Day, Postmaster, Box 9998, Beckley, WV 25801-9998, July 28. (Standing scout, American flag.)

USS RAFAEL PERALTA COMMISSIONING Station, Postmaster, 11251 Rancho Carmel Drive, San Diego, CA 92199-9996, July 29. (Insignia of the Navy destroyer includes combat helmet, sergeant stripes, two lions rampant, eagle, crossed swords, eight-pointed star, “Fortis ad Finem;” “NAS North Island.”)

TOWN OF COVERT Station, Postmaster, 8409 Main St., Interlaken, NY 14847-9998, July 29. (“Town of Covert Bicentennial” encircling “1817-Covert-2017,” small ornaments.)

CHARLOTTE, NC Station, Postmaster, 2901 Scott Futrell Drive, Charlotte, NC 28228-9998, July 29. (Graphic showing seven phases of a solar eclipse, “Total Eclipse of the Sun.”)

BROOKHAVEN LAB 70 YEARS OF DISCOVERY Station, Postmaster, Box 9998, Upton, NY 11973-9998, Aug. 1. (Text-only postmark, “70 Years of Discovery, a Century of Service.”)

AMERICAN NUMISMATIC ASSOCIATION CONVENTION Station, Postmaster, 7500 E. 53rd Place, Room 2204, Denver, CO 80266-9999, August 1-5. (Mountain peaks, crossed miner’s tools, “World’s Fair of Money,” “Denver.”)

Share information by writing to Postmark Pursuit, Box 4129, Sidney, OH 45365.

Instructions for requesting postmarks

Linn’s subscribers can see complete instructions for requesting postmarks here.