Garfield-Perry Stamp Club hosts 136th March Party show March 13-15

By Linn’s Staff

The Garfield-Perry Stamp Club will host the 136th annual March Party stamp exhibition, the largest annual event in Ohio for stamp and postal history collectors, March 13-15 at the Best Western Plus Hotel, 15471 Royalton Road, Strongsville, Ohio.

"We are planning another special show aimed to attract both collectors and the general public. The March Party traditionally has been well attended because of the programming we offer, the exhibits on display and the topnotch dealers from across the country,” said Rocco Caponi, show co-chairman. “This year should continue that 136-year tradition.”

Show hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Admission and parking are free.

The bourse (sales area) will include 38 dealers offering a wide range of philatelic material for sale, including stamps, covers, postcards and related literature and supplies.

In keeping with the theme of sunflowers, the 2026 March Party will play host to the United States Postal Service’s first-day ceremony for the new nondenominated (78¢) Sunflowers forever stamp designed by USPS art director Greg Breeding and featuring artwork by Nancy Stahl. The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

In addition, the Postal Service and the United Nations Postal Administration will have booths at the show. New stamps and postal stationery will be available for purchase.

Following the first-day ceremony on Saturday, a Postcrossing meetup will take place at 1 p.m. The meetup brings together members of the Postcrossing community who send postcards randomly to other members worldwide.

Linn’s Stamp News will provide a free specially designed postcard with photo and artwork by Kellie Conetsco for the event, as shown above. For more information about the meetup and to request the number of postcards needed, visit the Postcrossing website at www.postcrossing.com.

Other sessions during the show include the International Machine Cancel Society holding its annual meeting during the show along with hosting various sessions on Friday afternoon.

Another highlight will be a presentation hosted by the Ohio Postal History Society on Friday at 3 p.m. Dennis Sadowski will present “People and the Posts: Stories Behind the Mail of Early Lorain County (Ohio) History.”

On Sunday Garfield-Perry Stamp Club members will host a “Philatelic Antiques Roadshow” session from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The session offers show visitors the opportunity to have club members evaluate stamps and collections that they acquired or inherited.

The show will feature about 160 frames of multi-frame exhibits and 10 frames of single-frame exhibits. This year’s exhibits will be judged by Christopher Dahle, William Fort III, Mike Ley, James Mazepa, Norma Nielson and Dzintars Grinfelds.

An awards banquet will take place Saturday evening at the show hotel. Tickets are $65.

As a World Series of Philately show, the March Party 2026 multi-frame grand award winner will be eligible to compete in the American Philatelic Society Champion of Champions competition, which will take place at the Boston 2026 World Expo, May 23-30, in Boston, Mass.

The single-frame grand award winner will be eligible to compete in the single-frame Champion of Champions competition at the Chicagopex show set for Nov. 20-22 in Itasca, Ill.

Show covers with a commemorative cachet and pictorial postmark featuring the sunflowers theme will be available for $3 throughout the three days of the show and by mail with a self-addressed, stamped envelope with card stiffener and check payable to Garfield-Perry Stamp Club at Box 30338, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, 44130.

The show hotel is offering a rate of $114 plus tax per night. Reservations can be made by calling the hotel at 440-238-8800.

More information about the 2026 March Party and the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club is on the club's website at www.www.garfieldperry.org.

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