Local collectors dress up their mail with colorful original art

As a student at Elyria Catholic High School in the late 1960s, Charlie Delgado discovered his love of art. He recalls drawing cartoons then and sharing his creations with classmates and family. Whatever struck his fancy, he drew. "I've been doing art all my life," Delgado said. He's still at it and has melded his love of art with his second love of stamp collecting. For decades Delgado has created the annual postmark and cachet, an art design on an envelope, for the Black River Stamp Club's annual pre-Thanksgiving show. Beyond that, Delgado also creates art on personal mail. He has been an active member of the Art Cover Exchange since it reorganized in 1985. He now serves as the group's vice president. Known as ACE, the organization is built around the idea of creating images on mail and then sending the mostly one-of-a-kind covers to other members across the U.S. or in Canada, Israel, Italy, New Zealand and elsewhere. ACE has about 75 members, according to Delgado. He described the club as an outlet for people who enjoy creating artwork based on a particular stamp design, local point of interest or event, or news headline and then sending it to another member across the miles. "I would say I average about 1,000 trades over the year with different people," Delgado said. With a friend in Olympia, Washington, Delgado estimated that he exchanged at least 400 covers in 2021. Delgado got his start in stamp collecting in the early 1970s when a co-worker at Ridge Tool started sharing copies of Linn's Stamp News, a weekly newspaper covering philately. He saw stories and ads for first day covers with cachets and thought, "I can do that." He joined ACE in 1985 after it was reorganized. The group originally was founded in 1935. "I like pen pals and getting mail and doing covers and exchanging covers with people. That's what got me into it," Delgado said. "I don't like getting the bills and the junk mail. I like getting something better." Elyrian Phil Edwards also is an ACE member and has served as the group's president. In September, he shared with me a cover with a whimsical creation showing an "Ohio U.F.O. License" that designates "A. Leon" for entry into "Area-51." He franked the cover with one of the Message Monster stamps. It is postmarked in Elyria on Sept. 24, 2021, with a large first day of issue cancellation he created. Edwards has shared many of his creations with the Black River Stamp Club over the years, saying he enjoys being imaginative and offering commentary on current events. "I call then as I see 'em," he has told club members on many occasions. ACE publishes a monthly full-color newsletter, "From Cover to Cover." Much of each issue is devoted to the work of members. It runs contests focused on specific themes and provides ideas for artistic creations related to significant anniversaries of historic events or new stamp issues in a particular month. More information is online at artcoverexchange.org. McKinley Show For those looking to meet up with other stamp collectors or add material to their collections, the McKinley Stamp Club of Canton hosts its 91st annual show March 5-6. Philatelic exhibits, 13 dealers, a special show cover and postmark, and the U.S. Postal Service are part of the event. The show runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at St. George Serbian Orthodox Social Hall, 4667 Applegrove St. NW, North Canton. Club meeting After a month off because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Black River Stamp Club will resume monthly meetings on March 11. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. at Harvest Christian Church, 907 Eastern Heights Blvd., Elyria. All are welcome. The club still recommends that face masks be worn. Sadowski can be reached at sadowski.dennis@gmail.com.