April 24, 2003
50-YEAR MEMBERS TO GET ‘ROYAL’ MEDALLIONS

Charles J. G. Verge, President of The Royal Philatelic Society of Canada, has announced that three new 50-year members of The RPSC, along with 16 members who have already reached that milestone, will receive medallions at the Annual General Meeting of the Society to be held May 31, 2003, at 10 a.m. during ROYAL *2003* ROYALE, The RPSC’s 75th Convention, in Hanover, Ontario (May 31 – June 1).

In the past, 50-year members received a certificate, but through the generosity of a former president of The RPSC, Michael Madesker, RDP, FRPSC, the medallions will now be included.

The medallions, which are being designed and struck by Leighco Delux Trophies of Roxboro, Quebec, will bear The RPSC logo in original colours – enamel on antique gold – on the obverse. The reverse will feature the numeral 50 in a laurel wreath and there will be space for the name and membership number of the recipient.

The layout for the design was proposed by Madesker. He says the medallions were a suggestion from Verge "who thought we should honour our long term members" in this way.

In providing the medallions, Madesker says "it was a spontaneous reaction", and he would like to be "noted as a sponsor", not "a donor". His gesture is one of tribute to The Royal. He says “one of the greatest honours that a Society can bestow on a member is to elect one as its President; an honour which I treasure more than any other.”

Madesker, who is completing his third four-year term as President of the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie’s Commission for Youth Philately, was president of The RPSC from 1990–1993. During his term as president, the Society’s journal took on its bilingual title: The Canadian Philatelist / Le philatéliste canadien.

Fifty-year members receiving medallions are Kasimir Bileski, Jules H. Benjamin, Frederick Turp, James E. Kraemer, William H. P. Maresch, William O. Buchanan, J. Randolph Brent, Michael Madesker, Bruce A. Ovens, Alex A. McDonald, Eric Rushton, Richard M. Lamb, G. Robert Hambleton, Richard K. Malott, Graham Thomson, Y. Eugene Barna, Donald Greenleaf Joss, Robert Kenneth Eadie, and Murray Heifetz. The last three just reached the 50-year plateau.

Information on The RPSC can be had by e-mail at info@rpsc.org or by visiting the Society's website at www.rpsc.org, or by calling 416-979-8874, toll free 1-888-285-4143.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Michael O. Nowlan 506-357-2698
Carol S. Law 416-979-8874