The American First Day Cover Society (AFDCS) has chosen Michael Lake, of Weymouth, Mass., to chair its education department, which includes publications, audio-visual and online presentations and youth activities.
The AFDCS is designated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization for its educational activities.
Lake began as a junior member of the AFDCS 33 years ago and was elected to its board of directors last year. He has worked for ESPN for more than two decades, the last seven of which he spent as the director of production management for college sports. His team’s work at ESPN has been recognized with five Emmy awards and many nominations.
In philately, Lake is co-author of The Comprehensive Listing of ArtCraft Covers, beginning with the eighth edition released this year, and writes a regular column, “ArtCraft Variety Spotlight,” for the official AFDCS journal First Days. He also collects “unofficial-location” first-day covers (FDCs) plus FDCs of the 1997 Bugs Bunny (U.S. Scott #3137) and Peanuts stamps (U.S. Scott #3507). He writes regularly for the American Ceremony Program Society’s The Ceremonial journal and is also a member of that society, the Postmark Collectors Club and the American Philatelic Society.
For the AFDCS, Lake has been handling the logistics of online Zoom presentations.
Once in-person gatherings resume, he hopes “that participation remotely continues to be an opportunity for collectors to interact with others they might not have reached before,” he said.
Regarding the AFDCS education department, Lake said “every member — regardless of how seasoned or inexperienced – will not only find there are always things to learn, but also that they have insights of their own to offer others.”
“We look forward to helping forge those connections.”
As the education department chair, Lake will also be a member of the AFDCS executive committee.