Former president of the American Philatelic Society (APS) Stephen Reinhard has been named this year’s recipient of the Alfred F. Lichtenstein Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to Philately, which is given annually by The Collectors Club to a living individual for outstanding service to the hobby.
Reinhard, who’s described by award presenters as a “hobby leader,” earned this honour for his “hard work and dedication” in more than 25 years and across many areas of hobby.
Aside from his stint as president of the APS, Reinhard has served as president of The Collectors Club; the American Air Mail Society; and the International Federation of Aerophilatelic Societies. He has also served as vice-chair and secretary of the Philatelic Foundation.
Reinhard led the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) Commission for Aerophilately for eight years and also played an important role on the organizing committee of the recent World Stamp Show, held in New York City. He was responsible for the 4,200-frame exhibit selection as well as co-ordinating the 60-plus judges and experts.
But his success last spring in New York didn’t come out of nowhere: for six years, Reinhard chaired the judging committee for the APS Committee on Accreditation of National Exhibitions and Judges (CANEJ), which was responsible for exhibiting at more than 30 national shows.
He’s presently a member of the Council of Philatelists of the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, and is the longest-serving current member of the Collectors Club Board of Governors.
And it’s only leadership roles for which Reinhard volunteers. He has been the treasurer of the American Air Mail Society since 1990, collecting dues from 1,000 members each year while maintaining the society’s books.
“Philately is his life, and he dedicates a majority of his time to it,” reads an article in The Collectors Club Philatelist, the club’s bi-monthly publication. “Few have served philately as he has done.”
Honours bestowed on Reinhard include:
- being elected to the Aerophilatelic Hall of Fame (2000);
- being named a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London (2001);
- being named the recipient of the Angers Award for Service to Aerophilately (AAMS);
- being named the recipient of the FISA Gold Medal for service to international aerophilately;
- being named the recipient of the FISA Gold Pin for Service to Philately;
- being named the recipient of the National Merit Award at the Philadelphia National Stamp Exhibition (2008); and
- being given an Honorary Life Membership to the AAMS (2015).
Reinhard’s publication experience includes:
- a six-year stint as managing editor of The American Air Mail Catalogue (sixth edition, volumes one to three);
- nine research articles on early airmail in The Airpost Journal;
- two research articles in the Zeppelin Post Journal; and
- a number of columns written for Linn’s Weekly Stamp News in late 1960s.
Lastly, Reinhard’s exhibiting and judging experience includes:
- exhibiting “U.S. Pioneer Airmail 1910-1916” in FIP Championship Class after winning four Large Gold medals; and
- judging 15 international philatelic exhibitions and about 70 U.S. National exhibitions.