Martin, White Receive DSAs

First Days editor Peter Martin and AFDCS auction manager John White are the 2014 recipients of the American First Day Cover Society’s Distinguished Service Award.

The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) is presented in recognition of outstanding service to the AFDCS. The award is presented from time to time and is not given each year. The award recognizes those individuals who have truly contributed an outstanding effort on behalf of the society. Only living AFDCS members in good standing and who have not previously received the DSA are eligible to receive the award.

Peter D. Martin
Prior to making his mark in the world of philatelic literature Peter Martin had a distinguished 22-year career in the military, culminating in the position of Inspector General of the 95th Training Division in Oklahoma. He edited a number of government publications and served on the staff of the U.S. Army’s monthly magazine Soldiers.

martinDSA
His philatelic achievements include director at large, director of development, web director, and chairman of the Publications Committee of the American Philatelic Society; trustee and treasurer of the American Philatelic Research library; past president, librarian and historian of the State Revenue Society; council member of the American Philatelic Congress; chairman of the OKPEX show in Oklahoma; and past president of the Writers Unit.

His writing, editing, and publishing accomplishments comprise a list that is too long to enumerate here but include editorship of the American Philatelist, Philatelic Literature Review, Duck Tracks, Scott Monthly Journal, State Revenue News, and the Ceremonial. He currently serves as editor of the Confederate Philatelist and La Posta.

Through his connections with the philatelic press he promoted the Society by having the winners of our annual cachetmakers contest publicized in Scott Stamp Monthly and elsewhere. He spearheaded the Cachetmaker of the Century project. He currently serves as AFDCS Historian.

From 2003 to 2006 he was editor of First Days and an ex officio member of the board of directors. In 2011 he was again named Editor, a member of the board of directors and also the Executive Committee. In 2012 he was named Americover Chairman, in which capacity he works with the show venue at each location, the providers for the Thursday and Sunday special events, and the volunteer staff of the Americover Committee.

John H. White
John White is a cachetmaker who introduced his new line of cachets in 1983 with the Babe Ruth issue. Actually his first cachet was for the state birds and flowers stamps the year before. He is a life member of AFDCS and in addition to his vocation and cachet-making, he finds time to be a volunteer fire fighter. But he doesn’t just fight fires. He was once called to assist the Federal Emergency Management Association with a North Carolina flooding disaster in Jones County.

He has a website where you can see a wonderful catalog of the first day covers of the 1955 Certified Mail issue, and a listing of North Carolina FDCs of the 1964 JFK stamp. And if you are interested in the history of the Pinehurst Electric Railroad Company or the Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad Company, he is the go-to guy.

With the passing of Richard Monty, the First Cachets Committee sought someone who could support their efforts and help with managing their database. Our honoree has stepped into the breach with his technical skills to organize over 10,000 records.

More importantly these skills were demonstrated when he took on the position of AFDCS Auction Manager. In this role he has modernized the entire process of accepting and processing bids, as well as producing an expedited procedure for invoicing and collecting payments, speeding up the cash flow to the society. As the end of an auction approaches, he lists lot descriptions and scans on the Stamp Collecting Forum for those items that have no bids, generating a lot of last minute interest and income.

These efforts have resulted in setting new sales records for our auction program.

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