February 6, 2017
Nanango State High School’s hall was a beehive of activity on Saturday as stamp collectors from all over south-east Queensland gathered for the Nanango Stamp Club’s 23rd Stamp Fair.
The popular annual event in almost as old as the Stamp Club itself, which will be celebrating its 30th birthday next week.
As usual, this year’s Stamp Fair packed out the hall with tables groaning under the weight of postage stamps from all over the world – some common, some very rare – and endless rows of albums for collectors to browse through.
The canteen did a brisk trade all day, and given the heatwave conditions outside it was probably no nsurprise that cold soft drinks and fruit juices were a popular choice.
The Stamp Fair was officially opened by South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell and his wife Marion, who congratulated club members for the effort they put into running the event, which is the only one of its kind in the South Burnett.
A special feature of this year’s gathering was the reunion of two of the club’s founding members with the woman who helped inspire it.
Back in 1987, Joan Orr from the Queensland Philatelic Council came to Nanango to talk with a small group of local stamp collectors who were exploring the idea of forming a stamp club in the town.
Joan’s talk inspired them so much the Nanango Stamp Club sprang into existence soon after her visit.
And on Saturday when Joan paid a return visit, she was met by the club’s founding secretary Denise Nothdurft and fellow founding member Doug Brookson, who has now been collecting stamps for 64 years.
Current president Graham Coombe told southburnett.com.au Doug was the person responsible for him taking up the hobby himself.
“I’d heard that Doug had a really impressive thematic collection of aeroplane stamps,” Graham said.
“So I asked him if he’d show it to me, and it was so awesome I got hooked on stamp collecting on the spot.”
This year’s Stamp Fair was sponsored by Heritage Bank Nanango, the South Burnett Regional Council and Nanango State High School.
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The Nanango Stamp Club will be holding its next monthly meeting at Nanango RSL in Henry Street, Nanango from 10:00am onwards on Saturday, March 11, followed by lunch for those who’d like to stay on for a bite afterwards.
The club starts each year with its Stamp Fair on the second Saturday of February. then meets at the RSL on the second Saturday of each month from March to December.
The club is the South Burnett’s sole affiliated member of the Queensland Philatelic Council and promotes the hobby of stamp collecting in the region.
Anyone who is interested in stamp collecting is very welcome to come along for a fun morning out with fellow collectors.
More details? Phone Doug on (07) 4163-3013.
