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| EDITION 610 - 03/03/2026 |
| This Saturday we will have the monthly board meeting at the library. |
| I hope to post the program at the library for this month soon. We are still looking for presenters. |
| Golden Valley is not having an internet auction this month. They will resume in April. |
| I have been searching for this week's cover for several years. It's not impossible to find, but it has been very difficult for me to find at a price I could afford. I attended a presentation on the Siege of Paris several years ago and the balloon mail that got out of Paris when the Germans had Paris basically shut off from the rest of the World near the end of the Franco-Prussian war. The presentation is one that stuck with me. It was extremely well done and I found it fascinating. I vaguely remembered the war from my history classes in school. I will not attempt to give a brief synopsis of the event as I am not qualified to do so. I will say if John does the presentation for the library, I believe you should attend it. I have looked for a cover from the event ever since I saw that presentation. They are often offered for sale, but I have never seen one for under $100.00 and I sometimes see them sell for thousands. They are usually at least a few hundred dollars at a minimum. All of which are out of my price range. I got lucky and got this for an incredible bargain on Ebay. I was expecting the seller to not go through on the deal, but last week it arrived in the mail. I found out that all the balloons were named. This one was the 15th balloon flight and was named Le Victor Hugo. It was named after a French Poet who was honored to have a balloon named for him. It was sent from the place garden, and the pilot was Felix Nader. He was alone on the flight and had 440 kilograms of mail (about 200 pounds) and six carrier pigeons. His flight started at 11:45 AM on October 18, 1870, and he traveled 117 kilometers in 5-3/4 hours landing at La Croix-de-Murger near Vauberon at 5:30 PM. There were 67 fights that carried mail from September 23, 1870, through January 28, 1871. Of that 56 of them went through the Paris Post Office. Many of the flights carried additional passengers. Most of them also carried carrier pigeons. A few of them were unmanned. Some balloons were shot down by the Germans. Many flew off course. While others crashed or landed in German controlled areas. They also often faced problems with the weather. To me it's amazing that any got through. I found all this information at our library. We have several great books on the Siege of Paris. |
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| To sign up for the Toozeday Nooze go to our website at NORPS.org, there you will find a link for the Toozeday Nooze and on the event page where you can sign up to receive the Nooze every week and keep up on events and programs at the library as well as happenings with the local stamp clubs and shows. I have been told this does not work with some phones but should be accessible from your computer. You do not need to be a member of the library to receive this, but I encourage you to do so. We are run and organized 100% by volunteers and your donations keep the doors open and the lights on. |
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| If you have anything that you want shared let me know at pjflaherty58@gmail.com |
| Upcoming Events: |
| Date and Time | Fourth Saturday of the Month- March 28, 2026 at 11:00AM |
| Event | Upcoming Library Programs TBD |
| Location | Northern Philatelic Center, 1110 Lowry Ave No. Minneapolis, MN
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| Date and Time | Tuesday 3, March 2026 at 11:00 a.m. |
| Sponsor | Twin Cities Philatelic Society |
| Event | Monthly First Meeting |
| Location | LaBelle Condominiums II
1011 41st Ave. NE
Columbia Heights, MN
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| Coffee and soft drinks are available. And cookies! And Sales Circuit books. |
| Date and Time | Tuesday 3, March 2026 at 7:00 PM |
| Sponsor | Saint Cloud Area Stamp Club |
| Event | Monthly Meeting |
| Location | Atonement Lutheran Church 1144 29th Ave. N St. Cloud Please use South entrance |
| Regular meeting, Show and Tell, Identification and Circuit Books. |
| Date and Time | Tuesday 3, March 2026 at 6:00 PM |
| Sponsor | First Tuesday Stamp Club |
| Event | Monthly Meeting |
| Location | Zumbro Lutheran Church 624 3rd Ave. SW Rochester, MN |
| Socializing, Trading and Identification |
| Date and Time | Wednesday 4, March 2026 10:00 a.m. to Noon |
| Event | Stamp Academy |
| Location | Northern Philatelic Center, 1110 Lowry Ave No. Minneapolis, MN If you want to know anything about stamps, this is the place. There is an expert on staff every Wednesday between 10:00 a.m. and noon with over 30 years of experience cataloging stamps for some of the largest dealers in the country. For those people that have a collection that was handed down and are looking for what to do with the collection, this is a great opportunity to learn about your options. |
| Date and Time | Saturday 7, March 2026, 11:00 AM |
| Event | Library Board Meeting |
| Location | Northern Philatelic Center, 1110 Lowry Ave. No. Minneapolis, MN |
| Date and Time | Sunday 8, March 2026 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM |
| Sponsor | Minnesota Stamp Events, LLC |
| Event | Second Sunday Show |
| Location | Maplewood Community Center 2100 White Bear Ave. Maplewood, MN 55109 |
| Date and Time | Monday 9, March 2026 at 6:00 PM |
| Sponsor | Lyon County Stamp Club |
| Event | Monthly Meeting |
| Location | Adult Community Center Marshall, Minnesota |
| Socializing, Trading and Identification |
| Date and Time | Tuesday 10, March 2026 at 7:00 p.m. |
| Sponsor | Lake Minnetonka Stamp Club |
| Event | Monthly Meeting |
| Location | All Saints Lutheran Church 15915 Excelsior Blvd. Minnetonka, MN 55345 |
| Date and Time | Wednesday 11, March 2026 10:00 a.m. to Noon |
| Event | Stamp Academy |
| Location | Northern Philatelic Center, 1110 Lowry Ave No. Minneapolis, MN If you want to know anything about stamps, this is the place. There is an expert on staff every Wednesday between 10:00 a.m. and noon with over 30 years of experience cataloging stamps for some of the largest dealers in the country. For those people that have a collection that was handed down and are looking for what to do with the collection, this is a great opportunity to learn about your options. |
| Date and Time | Thursday 12, March 2026 at 6:30 PM |
| Sponsor | Scandinavian Club - Chapter 14 Meeting |
| Event | Monthly meeting |
| Location | Danish American Center 3030 West River Pkwy S Minneapolis, MN 55406 |
| Date and Time | Saturday 14, March 2026, 10:00 AM |
| Event | Work Day |
| Location | Northern Philatelic Center, 1110 Lowry Ave. No. Minneapolis, MN |
| Date and Time | Saturday 14, March 2026 at 2:00 PM |
| Sponsor | GPS - German Philatelic Society |
| Event | Monthly meeting. |
| Location | Episcopal Homes
502 Lynhurst Ave. East
St. Paul, MN
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| The GPS meets the second Saturday of each month. |
| Date and Time | Saturday 14, March 2026, 1:00 PM |
| Sponsor | Twin City Postcard Club |
| Event | Monthly Meeting |
| Location | Windom South Recreation Center 5843 Wentworth Avenue South Minneapolis, MN |
| Date and Time | Tuesday 17, March 2026 at 7:00 PM |
| Sponsor | Saint Cloud Area Stamp Club |
| Event | Monthly Meeting |
| Location | Atonement Lutheran Church 1144 29th Ave. N St. Cloud Please use South entrance |
| Date and Time | Wednesday 18, March 2026 at 10:00 a.m. to Noon |
| Event | Stamp Academy |
| Location | Northern Philatelic Center, 1110 Lowry Ave No. Minneapolis, MN If you want to know anything about stamps, this is the place. There is an expert on staff every Wednesday between 10:00 a.m. and noon with over 30 years of experience cataloging stamps for some of the largest dealers in the country. For those people that have a collection that was handed down and are looking for what to do with the collection, this is a great opportunity to learn about your options. |
| Date and Time | Thursday 19, March 2026 at 6:00 PM |
| Sponsor | Twin City Philatelic Society |
| Event | Monthly Second Meeting |
| Location | LaBelle Condominiums II 1011 41st Ave. NE Columbia Heights, MN |
| Coffee and cookies are available. Circuits books and general meeting and discussion. |
| Date and Time | Saturday 21, March 2026 at 11:00 a.m. |
| Event | Library Bourse |
| Location | Northern Philatelic Center, 1110 Lowry Ave No. Minneapolis, MN Every stamp club member and all collectors are invited to participate in this free monthly event. We started this as a monthly event, and it has continued to grow and expand. Just bring your stamps, covers, stories and any other philatelic items to sell, trade and buy. There will be refreshments available, so come and participate. It's like a garage sale for stamp collectors. Come a little early to get the best spot and set up your stuff. |
| Date and Time | Tuesday 24, March 2026 at 5:00 Social Hour, 6:00 Meeting |
| Sponsor | Minnesota Postal History Society |
| Event | Monthly Meeting |
| Location | Pax Christi Catholic Community 12100 Pioneer Trail, Room 211 Eden Prairie, MN 55347 |
| Program |
| Date and Time | Wednesday 25, March 2026 at 10:00 a.m. to Noon |
| Event | Stamp Academy |
| Location | Northern Philatelic Center, 1110 Lowry Ave No. Minneapolis, MN If you want to know anything about stamps, this is the place. There is an expert on staff every Wednesday between 10:00 a.m. and noon with over 30 years of experience cataloging stamps for some of the largest dealers in the country. For those people that have a collection that was handed down and are looking for what to do with the collection, this is a great opportunity to learn about your options. |
| Date and Time | Thursday 26, March 2026 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. |
| Sponsor | Maplewood Stamp Club |
| Location | Community of Grace Lutheran Church 4000 Linden St White Bear Lake, MN |
| Event | Monthly Meeting |
| Auction |
| Date and Time | Saturday 28, March 2026, 11:00 a.m. |
| Event | Program TBD
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| Location | Northern Philatelic Center, 1110 Lowry Ave. No. Minneapolis, MN |

