As I promised, today I will write my impressions of the Shumen 2024 Jubilee Philatelic Exhibition, dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the society in the city.As you know, the preparations for the exhibition started the day before with arranging the boards and arranging the exhibits. Teams from Bulgarian Post, SBF and of course the chairmen of the three companies in northeastern Bulgaria - Lyubomir Iliev, Eng. Dimitar Chernev and Nikolay Penev - participated in the activities.
Shortly before the opening of the exhibition, a committee evaluated the participants in the children's competition for a drawing of a postage stamp project, which is part of the initiative for the exhibition. About 80 children participated in the competition. A proposal was made that the best drawings be the basis for a future project for a postal edition.
On June 21 at 11:00 with an emotional introduction, Vladimir Kurtev solemnly opened the exhibition. This was followed by speeches by Prof. Dobromir Dobrev - Regional Governor of Shumen Region, Ms. Dimitrina Nedelcheva - Acting Head of the Shumen Regional Post Office and Ms. Desislava Petrova - Deputy Mayor for Budget and Finance. To my great regret, for objective reasons, the Mayor of Shumen, Prof. Hristo Hristov, was unable to attend.
At around 11.15 a.m., the validation of the first edition, namely "Roman Emperors Connected with the Bulgarian Lands", began. The ceremonial sealing was carried out by Prof. Dobromir Dobrev, Mrs. Dimitrina Nedelcheva and Mrs. Desislava Petrova. The edition consists of 2 postage stamps. One depicts Emperor Constantine I the Great and his mother Helena, and the second depicts Emperor Gaius Galerius and his mother Romula. The edition was also printed on anniversary sheets containing 4 sets of both stamps. Bulgarian Post also issued a first-day postal envelope.
After validation, it was time to view the exhibition. Exhibits by Nikolay Penev, Vladimir Kurtev, Nikola Nikolov, Stefan Stefanov, Eng. Dimitar Chernev, Krastyo Krastev, Tsvetelina Kostadinova, etc. were presented. The topics ranged from sports, flora and fauna, art to the Red Cross and airmail.
In the interval until the next validation, the philatelists attending the event made several of their own philatelic products. I had prepared in advance with thematic illustrated envelopes and maximum cards, which I distributed to my fellow philatelists. Unfortunately, there was a small remark from the Bulgarian Post Office regarding the illustrated envelopes, which of course I will comply with in the future. Mr. Lyubomir Iliev had also prepared commemorative envelopes on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the Shumen philatelic society "Madarski konnik". We also used the break to discuss some future projects in philately.
At 2:00 p.m., Mrs. Bilyana Toshkova, Mrs. Dimitrina Nedelcheva and Mr. Vladimir Kurtev validated the second issue of the day - "Natural Phenomena in Bulgaria". The issue consists of two postage stamps. The first one depicts the rock formation "Lion's Head" located in the Ropotamo reserve, and the second one depicts the rock phenomenon "Three Brothers" located 1 km north of the town of Aytos, in the Kazanite area. The issue is also printed on small sheets with 5 stamps and a vignette of each stamp. The validated envelope was solemnly handed over to Mr. Lyubomir Iliev - Chairman of the Shumen Philatelic Society. Bulgarian Post also issued a first-day postage envelope.
Of course, we must also mention the work of the Bulgarian Post team. In addition to organizing and arranging the exhibition, the BP team organized the sale of postal issues and the stamping of philatelic products. As expected, we did not leave them without work, to which I attribute the small but correctable errors. Let them accept our thanks!
The uncleaned date stamp used for the exhibition made a bad impression. For those who do not know, this is a stamp of a specific post office, which contains certain components in itself - city, postal code, current date, etc. It is placed on traveling letters and is different from the special postal stamp for the issue. For philatelists, a clearly legible postal date stamp is extremely important and it is a sign of respect for us that the postal institution maintains it like this. Unfortunately, both at the previous exhibition in Dobrich and now this was not done. Whether this is intentional or negligence, we can only guess.
Regarding the lady with the rude attitude, I think she deserves a separate post, which you will see soon.
I won't write about the friendly dinner and the second day of the exhibition (National Exchange Meeting) because I wasn't there. I just can't stand the sales stories.
Well, that's it, fellow philatelists and friends. I think the colleagues organized a wonderful event, which I hope will help organize other philatelic initiatives in the city.
