O1002

International Youth Year

Boy Scouts

Collins Cover Announcement 

BOY SCOUTS

In the early days (1978-79) I did a lot of COLLINS "varieties" .

Now I don't do too many, This "02" variety is one that I'm happy to present for your consideration.

Scouting is an activity that I personally relate to I was a Boy Scout from age 11 to 14 At 14, I became one of the six charter scouts for my town's new "Explorer Post" While in the service. I was scoutmaster for a small troup in North Carolina. My wife was a Girl Scout and, more recently, a scout leader. My eldest daughter was a Girl Scout. My eldest son is a Cub Scout. My middle daughter is a Brownie. My two youngest, I'm sure, are Scouts to be. How could it not be so?

For this special issue, I wanted to combine the fellowship of scouting with nature -- and ,, ,to accomplish this I chose a cachet that depicts a campsite on the shore of a lake at sunset. Tranquility . Resourcefulness. The molding of "American character"

This hand-painted cachet is a study in Americana. It is typical of Norman Rockwell's America It is you It is me. It is us.

The pink/orange sky pays tribute to the setting sun. Two

scouts trudge ashore from their canoe -- one carries a string

of freshly caught rainbow trout and the other carries the poles. Behind them, the retreating sun reflects on the opposite wooded shore and the serene surface of the lake.

To accommodate the approaching nightfall, preparations are

complete. A pitched tent stands ready to house its young occupants, a lantern draped over the front pole An open backpack has yielded some canned goods that will supplement the freshly caught trout. In anticipation of the evening meal, a scoutmaster tends the campfire as a ribbon of smoke drifts skyward.

This COLLINS cachet for the Boy Scout stamp is indeed one I'm proud to offer for your collection. It portrays the "mind's image" of what scouting should be , and, in fact, is .

The stamp is unofficially hand-canceled at Young America, Indiana . Discounting the mass-producers, I do not think that many limited edition cachet-makers will do just the Boy Scout stamp as a separate FDC . I think it deserves the special treatment and I believe the result is a special First Day Cover - a

stirring hand-painted "entire" cachet and a super "related" unofficial First Day cancel from Young America, Indiana, Item 401002 , $7. 50