Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 10, 1995                   TAG: 9508100034
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: S-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARY JO SHANNON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STAMP COLLECTING IS A HOBBY TO STICK WITH FOR A LIFETIME

When the Big Lick Stamp Club sponsored its seventh annual show, "ROAPEX," in the spring, doctors, engineers, professors and representatives of many other occupations viewed exhibits prepared by other club members. They gathered around dealers' tables, hoping to fill a few more blank spaces in their albums.

The club, whose 36 members range from their early 20s to retirees, has roots that go back 60 years, when the Jefferson-Lee Stamp Club was organized. The group suspended operation from the beginning of World War II until 1948, when the Roanoke Coin and Stamp Club was formed. That joint club carried on meetings, auctions and shows for both coin and stamp collectors until its demise in 1954.

In 1975, the late Walter Loebl and Ranes Chakravorty contacted Roanoke area members of the American Philatelic Society and organized the Big Lick Stamp Club. Meetings have been held monthly since 1976, with a dozen charter members still participating.

Ernest Andrews III, vice president of the club, began his collection when he was 7. His stamps are carefully inserted in acid-proof International Postage Stamp Albums. Special hinges are used to protect the stamps and allow them to be removed temporarily.

The first album in his collection holds worldwide stamps issued from 1842 to 1942. Twenty-four volumes are required to hold all the worldwide stamps from 1942 until today, a graphic illustration of how stamp issues have proliferated.

When Andrews' attention was focused on college, marriage and his career, the stamps were put aside, he said. But once his children reached 6 or 7, the stamps came out again.

"One of my sons is interested in collecting," he said. "He sticks to U.S. stamps, though. There are so many today, it's about all you can do to keep up with one kind."

As geographic and political boundaries shift, new stamps emerge and older, no longer issued stamps become scarce, increasing in value. Collecting helps one learn history, said Andrews.

His collection includes a stamp from Manchuko, a "dead country," and an 1862 stamp from Parma Duchy, now a province of Italy.

Other collectors specialize in topical categories such as birds, flowers, automobiles, airplanes, sailing ships or medicine. Often the topic is related to a person's occupation. Post cards, cancellations, postmarks and Christmas seals are all legitimate areas of philatelics.

Patricia Gathercole, a retired Roanoke College professor of French and Italian, has a worldwide collection, specializing in French stamps. Her hobby began in childhood but also was temporarily put aside and later resumed as her profession focused her interest on France.

"I don't know why more women aren't involved," said Gathercole, one of five female members of Big Lick. "Stamp collecting is a fascinating hobby. I like to work on my stamps in the winter. I put some music on and sit down and work on my albums."

Gathercole and Andrews are typical of many collectors. Their early interest waned, then resumed with enthusiasm as retirement allowed pleasure to pre-empt profit.

"I think retirees often go back to those interests they had as children," she said, "It's a shame that Roanoke does not have a real stamp store - with stamps and albums readily available that would encourage children to take up the hobby."

Gathercole said she purchased French art stamps, Canadian mints, and a big box of stamps on paper at the spring show, where there were dealers from Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, and a USPS Philatelic Sales Outlet.

The Big Lick Stamp Club will start preparation in September for the April 1996 ROAPEX - Roanoke Philatelic Exhibition. News of exhibits is advertised in philatelic newsletters, such as Big Lick's "Original Gum," named for the term identifying stamps with the original adhesive backing; the "Virginia Philatelic Forum"; or the hefty 84-page "Linn's Stamp News," distributed nationally.

According to "Linn's," the increase in United States postage rates this year could result in more than 150 new stamps in 1995. And that's just in the United States.

The Big Lick Stamp Club meets at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, corner of Franklin Road and Highland Avenue Southwest, at 2:30 p.m. on the second Sunday of each month.