In a world where the youth are fixated with gadgets and technology, one would think that this demonstrates the life of a typical youngster. However, in Port Elizabeth lives a young group that is fascinated with the collection of stamps.
The junior stamp club is part of the Port Elizabeth Philatelic Society and encourages youngsters, as young as eight years old, to develop a love for collecting stamps. As part of its guidelines, the junior stamp club assists youth leaders with skills on how to start and run a junior group, organising of youth leader workshops and sponsoring displays at the annual youth exhibition – Junior National Stamp Show (JUNASS).
JUNASS originated in 1983 and takes place annually in different provinces all over the country. This year JUNASS forms part of the National Stamp Exhibition called CENTAPEX 2012, which will be hosted in Port Elizabeth at the Bayworld Museum from 18-21 October 2012 time schedules are as follows, Thursday – Saturday 10:00 – 17:00 and Saturday 10:00 – 16:00.
Some exhibitions to look out for at the CENTAPEX 2012 are:
- Beautiful Butterflies
- Shells
- Discovering the Charms of Small Animals
- Skoenslappers
- Union Stamps of South Africa
This year children from the following clubs are participating in the exhibition: PE Philatelic Stamp Club, OFS Penny Black Stamp Club, CT Penny Black Stamp Club, Montague Penny Black Stamp Club and Witwatersrand Philatelic Society Junior Club.
“We have junior meetings monthly where the members learn how to wash stamps, what perforation is, how to read a catalogue and much more. We aim to educate children about the stamps but importantly we encourage the youth to be open-minded and unified,” says Herwig Kussing, Youth Leader and member of the organising committee.
Author: Seipati Moloi
