December 11, 2004

• The table of contents for the December 1, 2004 issue of First Days is now online.

October 24, 2004

• The AFDCS Fund Raising Auction #59 is now on-line. A color scan of every cover in the auction can be viewed here. The auction closes at 11:59 PM on Friday December 3, 2004
   
• The table of contents for the October 15, 2004 issue of First Days is now online.

October 19, 2004

• The results for the 2004 AFDCS Board of Directors election have been announced. There were 213 valid ballots received before the deadline. The five candidates receiving the most votes will serve a three-year term on the Board of Directors beginning January 1, 2005 and ending December 31, 2007. The candidate receiving the sixth highest votes will complete the vacated term expiring December 31, 2005.
   

Candidate Votes     Lloyd deVries 140     Allison Cusick 123     Mike Mellone 123     Lorraine Bailey 114     Ralph Achgill 98     Chris Lazaroff 84 * Term expires (12/31/05)   Hal Ansink 75     Norm Elrod 72     Andrew McFarlane 71     Charles Schretzmann 62     Barry Ellis 31

• The Fall AFDCS Auction will be online the week of October 25th.

September 6, 2004

• AMERICOVER has been granted World Series of Philately status !!! After a five-year qualifying cycle, the APS Board of Directors has unanimously approved AMERICOVER as the 31st WSP show. The Grand Award winner at AMERICOVER 2005 will be invited to compete in the Champion of Champions competion at StampShow 2006 to be held in Chicago. Congratulations to everyone who has worked hard to make this happen!
   

August 26, 2004

• Congratulations to David Bize for winning the Grand Award at AMERICOVER 2004 for his exhibit, The Beacon. Alan Berkun's exhibit Washington-Franklin Earliest Documented Usages (1908-1922) won the Richard H. Thompson Award for Best Exhibit of U.S. FDCs (other than the Grand Award). The entire palmaries for AMERICOVER 2004 are now online.
   
• Cynthia Scott received the AFDCS Distinguished Service Award at AMERICOVER 2004 from AFDCS President Tom Foust.
   
• An Honorary Life Membership was awarded to Barry Newton for over thirty years of volunteer work to the society. This is only the seventeenth time in AFDCS history that an Honorary Life Membership has been granted.
   
• The ballot for the Board of Directors (2005-2007) election is included in the September 1^st issue of First Days. The ballot must be postmarked by September 30^th and received by October 15^th. Please see the ballot for more detail.
   
• Preliminary hotel information for AMERICOVER 2005 has been posted.
   
• The table of contents for the September 1, 2004 issue of First Days is now online.

August 16, 2004

• Congratulations to Jim McDevitt for winning the AFDCS Best First Day Cover Exhibit Award at StampShow 2004 with his exhibit, The Coast Guard Commemorative.

August 1, 2004

• Congratulations to Allen Klein for winning the AFDCS Best First Day Cover Exhibit Award at the Minnesota Stamp Expo with his exhibit, Lindbergh Air Mail First Days - U.S. 10¢ Issues of 1927 & 1928.
   
• The table of contents for the July 15, 2004 issue of First Days is now online.

July 14, 2004

• All 160 exhibit frames for AMERICOVER 2004 have been filled. A special thanks to all our exhibitors!

July 2, 2004

• Congratulations to the Robert C. Graebner Chapter (AFDCS Chapter #17) whose official newsletter, The Graebner Gazette, won a Vermeil medal in this years' APS Chapter Newsletter Contest. It was entered in the category for APS chapters with under a hundred members and received 84 out of a possible 100 points. Rollin Berger is the editor in charge of producing the newsletter.

June 21, 2004

• The design of the AMERICOVER 2004 cachet has been unveiled . It was done by the renown Western artist Dave Dubé, an AFDCS member.
• The list of AMERICOVER exhibits has been updated.

June 21, 2004

• Congratulations to Glenn Estus for winning the AFDCS Best First Day Cover Exhibit Award at ROPEX 2004 with his exhibit, III Winter Olympic Games.
• First Days was awarded a Silver medal in the literature exhibition of Spain 2004 held in Valencia, Spain during May. Congratulations to editor Peter Martin and all contributors to the journal.

May 29, 2004

• The table of contents for the June 1, 2004 issue of First Days is now online.
• The Commercial Links and Members' Links pages have been updated.

May 23, 2004

• The list of AMERICOVER exhibits has been updated.

May 20, 2004

• The Americover Host Hotel, Marriott Indianapolis East, has reserved a small
  block of 20 rooms at their sister hotel La Quinta Inn Indianapolis East for the duration of AMERICOVER. Click here for more info.

May 10, 2004

• To help mark its' 50th Anniversary, the AFDCS has announced a contest to design a special anniversary logo to be used in the year-long celebration.

May 3, 2004

• The AFDCS has announced a new program offering $850 in coupons, free FDCs and publications to new members.

April 19, 2004

• The table of contents for the April 15, 2004 issue of First Days is now online.
• A list of accepted exhibits (as March 19th) for AMERICOVER 2004 is now available.

March 18, 2004

• A couple of technical things...
• There is now a drill down navigation bar a the top of each page. For example "Home : What's New" appears at the top of this page.
• We also changed the way the Court of Honor FDCs are displayed.

March 13, 2004

• The AFDCS Chapter listing has been updated.

March 12, 2004

• Auction #58 is now available online with color illustrations of 101 of the 978 lots. The closing date is Friday June 4 at 11:59 (Eastern).

March 3, 2004

• Congratulations to Allison Cusick for winning the AFDCS Best First Day Cover Exhibit Award at COLOPEX with his exhibit, First Day Covers of the Edgar Allan Poe Memorial Stamp of 1949.

February 23, 2004

• Author and Subject indexes for 2003 First Days have been added.
• Congratulations to Allen Klein for winning the AFDCS Best First Day Cover Exhibit Award at SANDICAL with his exhibit, Lindbergh Air Mail First Days - U.S. 10¢ Issues of 1927 & 1928.

February 21, 2004

• More info about AMERICOVER 2004 and the Dancing Pigs has been posted.
• A special hotel rate for AMERICOVER has been announced.
• The table of contents for the March 1, 2004 issue of First Days is now online.

February 4, 2004

• Congratulations to Harlan Stone for winning the AFDCS Best First Day Cover Exhibit Award at APS Ameristamp Expo with his exhibit, The 1948 U.S. Stone Stamp and Its First Day Covers.

January 30, 2004

• We've added more detailed pictures of the preliminary design of the 2¢ Navajo Necklace stamp

January 22, 2004

• The USPS has released a preliminary design of the 2¢ Navajo Necklace stamp which is tentively scheduled for release at AMERICOVER on August 20^th in Indianapolis. More information (and a better image) will be posted as it becomes available.

.January 20, 2004

• Additional AMERICOVER 2004 information has been released and posted.
• The Board of Directors and Executive Committee listings have been updated to reflect the results of the recent election.
• The table of contents for the January 15, 2004 issue of First Days is now online.
• News from 2003 has been moved to the news archive.