GBCC at WESTPEX
2011 and 2010

GBCCers Have a Grand Time at Westpex Every Year

Westpex is an APS-certified World Series of Philately qualifying show. It is held near San Francisco Airport and attracts visitors from all over the country. There is always a good group of GBCC members at the show.

In 2011 the fun began on Tuesday evening, April 26, with a dinner in honor of Karl Louis. Karl Louis, the Managing Director of the Corinphila Auction House in Switzerland, is a valued contributor and supporter of the GBCC. The dinner was hosted by member Gale Self and his wife Patti. The photo below shows four attendees; not included in the photo are Mariko Burgess and Patti.

Dinner with Karl Louis
Dinner in honor of Karl Louis. Shown from left to right: Gale Self, Karl Louis, Tim Burgess and Doug McGill.

This was followed on Wednesday evening with a presentation by Karl Louis before the Collectors Club of San Francisco on the "Past and Present State of Philately." The dinner was attended by many GBCC members.

Thursday a group of GBCC members was invited by Wayne Menuz to lunch and a view of his incredible specialized collection of world wide postal stationery with an emphasis on Great Britain. Wayne also showed select pages from his exhibit, "Queen Victoria Printed to Private Order Postal Stationery."

Gathering at Wayne Menuz' house
The GBCC group takes a brief respite from viewing postal stationery and gathers some rays. Shown from left to right: Larry Rosenblum, Tim Burgess, Paul Phillips, Wayne Menuz, Gale Self and Doug McGill.

Friday morning, the first day of the show, our President, Steve McGill, presided over the GBCC WESTPEX regional meeting and presented a fascinating talk entitled, "Machin Printing Process Changes and Their Effects on Appearance — 1967–2010."

Machins Forever
Steve McGill talking about everyone’s favorite topic, Machins.

On Friday evening we had our traditional GBCC dinner at the Elephant Bar Restaurant. The dinner is open to members and invited guests. The enthusiastic diners are shown below. Out of range of the camera are Bill Barlow, Steve McGill, Larry Rosenblum and Tim Burgess.

GBCC Traditional Friday Night Dinner
Eager diners (and drinkers!) on the left, front to back: Doug McGill, Russ Samuels and his wife Kathy (with head bowed) and Russ Hill. On the right, front to back: Karl Louis, Patti Self, Gale Self, Paul Phillips, Arno Kolster, Steve McGill’s wife Luann and Garvin Lohman.

So ended the diverse GBCC-related activities in 2011. Some of the members reminisced about WESTPEX the year before, so here are a couple of photos from that event. The turnout in 2010 was smaller than usual because the London 2010 international stamp show followed a few weeks later. Dinner was at the Marriott hotel where the show is held.

GBCC Lunch at WESTPEX 2010
The small group of enthusiastic GBCCers enjoying lunch in 2010 were (left to right): Russ Samuels, Russ Hill, Tim Burgess, Bernadette (the official GBCC SFO Marriott waitress who has served us WESTPEX meals for many years) and Doug McGill.
[But does she collect line-engraved?]


Traditional Friday Night Dinner at WESTPEX 2010
The traditional Friday night dinner in 2010 was attended by (left to right): Paul Phillips, Larry Rosenblum, Bill Barlow, Doug McGill, Tim Burgess and Russ Samuels.
[Maybe we should change the club’s name to the Great Britain Collectors and Diners Club.]
Last update: August 12, 2011   Macintosh!
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