On a busy weekend of community events around Waterloo Region, it may have been easy to overlook a gathering with one of the longest legacies of all.
Stamp collectors from across Canada and beyond converged on the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex for the 88th annual exhibition of the Royal Philatelic Society of Canada.
George Pepall, the society’s president, describes philately – the term for stamp collection – as something which can appeal to people in many different ways.
For some people, he says, it provides a window to the rest of the world.
“You can travel through your imagination to all the exotic parts of the world through the stamps that come from those areas,” he said in an interview.
The annual exhibition is held in different communities around Canada each year.
Given its location in Waterloo Region for 2016, organizers gave it a theme around the year 1916 – the year mail items moving through the area ceased being stamped with the name of Berlin, in favour of the city’s new name of Kitchener.
“A lot of people were slow and reluctant to let it go,” said Pepall.
“The post office had to recognize … the fact the city was now Kitchener.”
Geoff Lewis travelled from Australia to attend the show.
He says he likes stamps for their ability to teach – not only about printing techniques and postage rates, but also history and geography.
“It gives you an idea about the whole world,” he said.
Part of the exhibition’s purpose is to show off the world of philately to children and other people who might not normally pay attention to it.
Nine-year-old Bridget Coleman, who was at the event Sunday, said her grandfather introduced her to the collecting hobby and she’s since taken it up – even if she rarely uses stamps for their practical purpose.
“Not many people mail each other. Stamps really aren’t used much anymore,” she said.
With reporting by Tyler Calver
