Ken and Carolyn Weber swept the awards at VENPEX, the Ventura County Philatelic Society stamp show, last month.

The husband-and-wife team exhibited Aerogrammes of Papua New Guinea, which won a gold and the grand (Judge Gregg Memorial Award), the Kurt Holschauer Memorial Award for the Best British Empire exhibit, and the American Philatelic Society award for the best exhibit by an APS member.

Allen Klein received a gold and the reserve grand, provided by the Federated Philatelic Clubs of Southern California, for USS Akron — Pride of the Navy: Covers Tell the Story of the Akron's Contribution to Naval Aviation.

The most popular exhibit award, determined by votes of visitors to the show and donated by bourse chairman Stephen Pattillo, went to Bill Schwartz's Soldiers' Story, an exhibit of letters and their envelopes from several members of the same family who served in the Civil War. It also received a gold.

Other exhibits and their awards:

GOLD: Jerome V.V. Kasper, The Aerogrammes of Iceland.

Jerome V.V. Kasper, Australia's Official Aerogrammes.

Stephen Tucker, the Dhows of Aden — First Issue of the Crown Colony.

VERMEIL: Mel Dick, the Life and Career of the USS Lexington (CV2) in Time of Peace and War.

George Lyon, Costa Rica, The 1901 Issue.

John Weigle, United States Auxilliary Labels.

The judges were chairman, Wallace Craig; David Leeds; and Richard Willing.

An estimated 300 people attended the two-day event June 9-10 in Oxnard, and most of the visitors and dealers said they were happy with the show.

Congratulations to chairman Mel Dick, his committee and other volunteers for reviving a show that last occurred in 2003.

Some photos of the show can be seen at http://vcphilatelic.com/SocieryNewsandNotes.html.

County Stamp Clubs

Conejo Valley Philatelic Society, King of Glory Lutheran Church, 2500 Borchard Road, Newbury Park, second Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.

Goebel Senior Center Stamp Club, Goebel Senior Adult Center, 1385 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks. The club meets the first and third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. For further information, call 381-2744 or Stanley Cotter at 818-991-5459.

Ojai Stamp Club, Little House, 111 W. Santa Ana St., Ojai, second and fourth Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m.

Simi Valley Stamp Club, 7:30 p.m., first Thursday of each month, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 9 W. Bonita Drive, Simi Valley; and 1 p.m., third Monday of each month (except in January and February), at the Senior Citizens Center, 3900 Avenida Simi, Simi Valley. Information, Marian Bowman, 526-3122.

Ventura County Philatelic Society, Church of the Foothills, 6279 Foothill Road, Ventura, first and third Mondays of each month, 8 p.m.

Shows and bourses

This list is compiled from a number of sources. If you plan to travel a long distance, it's a good idea to check to be sure the event has not been canceled.

Bourses are commercial events where dealers show their goods. Stamp shows are sponsored by a club or federation (group of clubs) and feature competitive exhibits in addition to the bourse. For more information about shows around the world, visit http://www.stampshows.com.

To save space, I'll run three months of shows at a time.

Monthly show details

INTURPEX Stamp and Cover Expo, Arcadia Masonic Temple, 50 W. Duarte Road, Arcadia. Commercial. Free admission and parking.

The Original First Sunday Stamp Show: Masonic Hall, 14750 Sherman Way, Van Nuys. Commercial. Free admission and parking. Stephen Pattillo, e-mail: number1banana@hotmail.com. http://www.stampshowsteve.com.

5-Star Stamp Show: YWCA Regency Room, 735 E. Lexington, Glendale. Commercial. Free admission and parking. http://www.stampshowsteve.com.

Steve's Quality Sunday Stamp Show: Clarion Hotel, 616 Convention Way, Anaheim. Commercial. Free admission and parking. http://www.stampshowsteve.com.

The shows

July 20-22: Encino Stamp Show, St. Nicholas Church Community Room, 17114 Ventura Blvd., Encino. Commercial. Free parking, admission.

July 28: 5-Star Stamp Show, see monthly shows for details.

July 29: Quality Sunday Stamp Show, see monthly shows for details.

Aug. 5: Original First Sunday Stamp Show, see monthly show for details.

Aug. 25-26: 5-Star Stamp Show, see monthly shows for details.

Sept. 2: Original First Sunday Stamp Show, see monthly shows for details.

Sept. 22: 5-Star Stamp Show, see Monthly shows for details.

Sept. 23: Quality Sunday Stamp Show, see monthly shows for details.

Sept. 27-29: Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo, Long Beach Convention Center, Hall A, 100 S. Pine Ave., Long Beach. Commercial, $6 admission all three days, parking fee.

COMING U.S. ISSUES

Most U.S. issues can be obtained at any large post office or from Stamp Fulfillment Services, Box 7247, Philadelphia, PA 19101-9014, or Box 41936, Kansas City, MO 64141-6636. The center accepts credit card orders at 800-782-6724 or fax at 816-545-1212.

This calendar was compiled from announcements in several issues of Linn's and the Virtual Stamp Club Web site. It is subject to change.

July 19: 4-cent water activated Chippendale Chair coil (American Design), Washington, D.C. 20066.

July 26: 20 41-cent Marvel Comic Book Heroes commemoratives and picture postal cards (Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk, Sub-Mariner, the Thing, Captain America, Silver Surfer, Spider-Woman, Iron Man, Elektra and Wolverine and covers of their comics), San Diego 92199.

Aug. 4: Four 41-cent Vintage Mahogany Speedboats commemoratives (1915 Hutchison, 1931 Gar Wood, 1939 Hacker-Craft and 1954 Chris Craft), Clayton, N.Y. 13624.

Aug. 9: 41-cent Louis Comfort Tiffany commemorative showing details of a stained glass window (American Treasures series), Portland, Ore. 97208.

Aug. 10: 10 41-cent Flower Blossoms stamps (coneflower, dahlia, chrysanthemum, gerbera daisy, tulip, iris, poppy, water lily, magnolia bloom and one not listed in the initial announcement), Portland, Ore. 97208.

Aug. 16: Four 41-cent The Art of Disney: Magic commemoratives and postal cards (Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice, Dumbo and Timothy Mouse, Peter Pan and Tinker Bell and Aladdin and the Genie), Orlando, Fla. 32862.

Aug. 17: 41-cent Celebrate! stamp, Stamford, Conn. 06907.

Aug. 17: 41-cent James Stewart (Legends of Hollywood series), Los Angeles, 90052.

Aug 28: Ten 41-cent Alpine Tundra commemoratives (golden eagle, bighorn sheep, elk, brown-capped rosy-finch, yellow-bellied marmot, American pika, white-tailed ptarmigan, Magdalena alpine butterfly and sky pilot, Melissa arctic butterfly and dwarf clover, and Rocky Mountain Parnassian butterfly and mountain candytuft) (Nature of America), Estes Park, Colo. 80517.

Aug. 31: 41-cent Gerald Ford commemorative, Grand Rapids, Mich., and Rancho Mirage, Calif.

August: Several 41-cent American Flag definitives, Washington, D.C. 20066.

Sept. 12: 41-cent Jury Duty social awareness commemorative.

September: single 41-cent Star Wars stamp (winner of the most popular poll).

September: 41-cent Mendez vs Westminster: Toward Equality in our Schools commemorative (the case, a challenge to racial segregation in California schools, resulted in a ruling that Mexicans and Mexican-Americans couldn't be segregated in schools), Santa Ana, Calif. 92711.

Sept. 28: 41-cent Eid special stamp, Washington, D.C. 20066.

On the Net:

http://stamps.org

http://www.virtualstampclub.com

http://www.vcphilatelic.com/index.html

— John Weigle's e-mail address is jweigle@VenturaCountyStar.com. His blog is at http://blogs.venturacountystar.com/vcs/weigle/. He is a longtime collector and member of the Ventura County Philatelic Society.