Originally scheduled for March 27-29, the St. Louis Stamp Expo – now planned for Aug. 14-16 – is expected to be the first U.S. stamp show since mid-March, when restrictions were put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“The Stamp Community wants and needs a show bad,” Mike Peter, the show’s executive director, told the American Philatelic Society in a recent email. “The St. Louis Expo committee will bring the goods.”
Organized by the members of several St. Louis-area stamp clubs, the show belongs to the “World Series of Philately” and will qualify an exhibit for next year’s Champion of Champions competition. If the show goes ahead, organizers say they will follow local and state guidelines, including limiting the number of people on the floor and requiring all attendees to wear face masks. Attendees will also have their temperatures taken at the door, and anyone with a temperature exceeding 37.94 degrees Celsius will be prohibited from entering.
Two societies, the American Revenue Association and State Revenue Society, are planning to convene at this year’s expo.
While the Canada-U.S. land border has been closed to non-essential travel since March 21, CBC News reported Canadians are still able to fly to the United States if they haven’t visited Brazil, China, Iran, Ireland, the United Kingdom or the 26 European countries in the Schengen Area within the previous 14 days. While they don’t have to self-isolate upon their arrival in the United States, Canadians who travel south of the border are required by federal rules to do so once they return home.