"Funfest Weekend" in Kelowna, BC.

The Pacific North West Regional Group held its annual meeting at the Capri Hotel in Kelowna, BC, over the weekend of 1-3 May 2009.

Referred to as their Funfest weekend, the Group meets in a combination of philatelic and social functions. This year's get together was held in conjunction with the annual Kelowna Wine Fest and included a "progressive wine tasting" at Cedar Creek Estate Winery.

We all arrived on the Friday evening. John Burnett and Pete Jacobi held court in the hospitality suite until it was time for our no-host dinner. As is our normal approach, we just kept adding tables together until we stretched across the restaurant. The Capri Hotel food proved to be excellent and we all enjoyed a great round of fellowship.

John Burnett and Peter Jacobi shared the hospitality suite and hosted the after-dinner crowd to refreshments and a place where we could all tell our lies, trade stamps, and just enjoy each other's company.

The PNWRG had arranged for a dealer to attend the first evening and he set up a small bourse in the bedroom.

The hospitality suite was well attended Friday evening

Jon Johnson kneels to the great bourse god in the hospitality suite as Peter Fralick and Cec Coutts look on

Saturday was the big day of the meeting. We started out with our philatelic program. Gary Dickinson led off with a very informative talk entitled "More Than Just a Pretty Face", a really interesting presentation on first day covers. Gary rekindled my interest in first day covers. I had no idea collecting them could offer the challenge it does.

Following Gary, our BNAPS Webmaster, Bob Lane, gave a very informative talk on RPO cancels and included some of the real difficulties RPO postal clerks incurred as they tried to service mail under heavy time constraints and of course in a darn moving vehicle. I often have trouble reading the full RPO cancel, never did understand all the various terms in the cancellation. A few questions to Bob and I came away much smarter than when I sat down.

Gary Dickinson tells the story of some of Canada's earliest first day covers and unearths some interesting questions about how some of these early covers were created

Bob Lane presenting his very interesting talk on RPOs and answering many questions from the audience

We finished up our morning philatelic session with an hour devoted to the business of the region. Gary Dickinson agreed to act as Chairman of the Regional Group (replacing Peter Jacobi) for the next two years, Peter Fralick volunteered to take on the job of newsletter editor as I and my wife have elected to return to Alabama and will not be available to do the job in the future.

I also updated the members on our plans for BNAPEX 2010 in Victoria. This event will be held at the Empress Hotel and Victoria Conference Centre. The Regional Group has negotiated tremendous rates with the hotel and we look forward to a world class event in 2010.

Saturday afternoon was spent in our social side. We all went to a no-host lunch and then proceeded to Cedar Creek Estate Winery for a progressive tasting.

Organizers John Burnett and Pete Jacobi take wine-drinking lessons from Gail Lane

Vine-growing expert tells his secrets to attentive members

After the wine tasting, it was back to the hotel and get ready for our dinner and after-dinner speaker. The Capri hotel again served a superb dinner and we all had a most enjoyable time.

Saturday dinner - table 1

Saturday dinner - table 2

Saturday dinner - table 3

Saturday dinner - table 4

After having filled our tummies, we sat back to listen to Dr. Maurice Williams, a professor of History at UBC Okanagan. Dr. Williams is in the middle of an archeological dig in Myra Canyon. He has written a book about the people who built the Kettle Valley Railroad through this most treacherous and dangerous track. I do believe he is the best after-dinner speaker we have had to date. He has written a book Myra's Men all about the characters who accomplished this undertaking. I bought the book and can say it is a great read!

After-dinner speaker Dr. Maurice Williams

After dinner, we retired to the hospitality suite to continue telling lies and trading stamps.

Sunday morning was again devoted to our philatelic side. Bill Topping held the floor first thing in the morning and spoke on "Union Steamships Way Mail" on the west coast.

Your editor finished up the presentations with my talk on the Mufti Issue of 1937 - 38 stamps used on cover to foreign destinations.

Bill Topping giving his presentation

Bill Topping holds the audience's close attention with his talk on the Union Steamship Way Mail

John Burnett talks of the wide open collecting field available to everyone who wishes to pursue the postal history of the KG VI era

Many of us had to leave at noon on Sunday but a group stayed to take a tour of the historical areas of Kelowna.

Once again the PNWRG had a most successful meeting and a lot of fun. We offer an open invitation to any stamp collector who might want to join us in the future.

►  Editor: John Burnett