Jack Nixon, an eight-year-old philatelist from Toronto, was crowned 2017 Youth Grand Champion of Champions at the American Philatelic Society (APS) StampShow, held Aug. 3-6 in Richmond, Va.
The competition, which was sponsored by the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors (AAPE), saw Nixon’s traditional exhibit—entitled “Canada 1952-57 Wildlife Series”—qualify for the award by winning the Youth Grand Award at Canpex 2016. His exhibit also received the Best Traditional Award as well as the Judge’s Choice Award for Treatment of Material.
“We just liked the animals and wanted to use them,” the youngster told Canadian Stamp News in an 2016 interview after the same exhibit was first entered in the North Toronto Stamp Club (NTSC) 73rd annual exhibition held during the National Postage Stamp and Coin Show.
Nixon’s exhibit features several dozen stamps with postal uses as well as posters and photographs issued by the Post Office Department (now Canada Post) and stamps designed by the series’ designers.
Most of the material was donated by various prominent philatelists, including the British North America Philatelic Society Admiral Study Group chair Andrew Chung; esteemed historian and philatelist Charles Verge; and Dr. J.H. Whitehead, who was a former NTSC treasurer as well as Nixon’s great-great grandfather.
Among this incredibly interesting material is a cover sent to Whitehead at the NTSC on June 3, 1955 using the series’ five-cent Whooping Crane stamp (Scott #353). Another cover, this sent to Whitehead’s Toronto apartment on Sept. 1, 1953 used the series’ three-cent Moose stamp (SC #323).
IMPRESSIVE EXHIBIT
Rodney Paige, of Thorold, who judged the 2016 NTSC show, was very impressed with the exhibit.
“It’s a modern type of exhibit – which is always nice to see – that you can take relatively modern material and make an interesting story out of it. He includes a lot of information on the postage rates as well as some philatelic information,” Paige told CSN. “And the other thing that’s interesting is he uses a wide variety of elements – covers, booklets, and he even had a proof in there, which is quite interesting – so he can continue looking for other elements and really strengthen that one up.”
The AAPE Youth Grand Championship takes place annually in conjunction with APS StampShow. This year, 12 exhibits by youth ranging in age from eight to 16 qualified and competed. The participants vied for 19 different awards donated by Westpex, the Collectors Club of Chicago, the Pinnacle Stamp Club, the American Topical Association, the International Society of Worldwide Collectors and individuals, including John Hotchner, Don Smith and Ken Martin.
The 2017 Reserve Grand Award was won by Mia Fillion from Massachusetts, age 12, with her thematic exhibit entitled, “The USDA My Food Plate – Mapping Out the Foods.”
Additional details of other awards and winners can be found on the AAPE website.