March Party’s 134th show to host March 16 Garden Delights first-day ceremony

By Linn’s Staff

The Garfield-Perry Stamp Club will host the 134th annual March Party stamp exhibition, the largest annual event in Ohio for stamp and postal history collectors, March 15-17 at the Best Western Plus Hotel, 15471 Royalton Road, Strongsville, Ohio.

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 35 dealers offering a wide range of philatelic material for sale, including stamps, covers, postcards and related literature and supplies.

The March Party 2024 show theme is hummingbirds, a nod to the United States Postal Service’s first-day-of-issue ceremony for the Garden Delights stamps featuring hummingbirds. The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Friday, March 15, includes an afternoon of presentations. At noon, the March Party will host a first-day-of-issue ceremony for the latest stamps in the United Nations Postal Administration’s Flag series.

At 1 p.m., Ray Beer and Ken Nilsestuen will present “Thoughts on Numbering Varieties.” Following that presentation, at 2 p.m., Greg Shoults will discuss “Washington and Franklin Flat Plate Coils 1908-1915.” At 3 p.m., “Intro to the Offset-Lithographed Washington-Franklin Heads” will be given by Andrew Kelly.

On Friday at 4 p.m., the show will host an American Philatelic Society town hall with executive director Scott English, allowing collectors to offer their views on the state of the hobby and how the APS can better serve hobbyists.

On Sunday, members of the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club will provide free evaluations of stamp collections from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Ukrainian Philatelic and Numismatic Society will conduct its annual meeting at the show at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

About 162 frames are reserved for multiframe exhibits and 10 frames for single-frame exhibits. On Saturday, there will be a judges feedback forum at 4 p.m. and an awards banquet at 7 p.m. at the show hotel.

March Party is an APS World Series of Philately show. The multiframe grand award winner is eligible for the Champion of Champions competition at the Great American Stamp Show in Hartford, Conn., Aug. 15-18.

The single-frame grand award winner will be eligible for the single-frame championship at the Chicagopex show Nov. 22-24 in Itasca, Ill.

This year’s March Party marks the return of a commemorative cinderella souvenir sheet.

The sheet, produced in a limited run of 250, will include four labels showing the round Garfield-Perry logo. The selvage on each side of the sheet will include text related to the club, the show and its location. The sheet will be available throughout the show at a cost of $4. All proceeds will benefit the club.

A show cover with a commemorative cachet and pictorial postmark will be available for $3 on all three days of the show and by mail.

To order by mail, send a check for $3 made out to the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club and a self-addressed, stamped envelope with a cardboard stiffener to 3245 Nagel Road, Avon, OH 44011.

The March Party show hotel is offering a special rate for the show. Reservations can be made by calling 440-238-8800.

For more information, visit the show website.

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