JANUARY 2, 2001

Benez Colabewala Wins JPA's 2nd Cachetmaking Contest

The Junior Philatelists of America's (JPA) second annual cachetmaking contest proved to be a family affair as Benaz Colabewala, 9, of Fullerton, Calif., produced the grand prize winning cachet (right) from among 176 entries based on the Deep Sea Creatures stamps. Her brother, Eric, 8, won second place in the ages 8 to 11 category.

Similarly, Adriel Meditz, 14, of Austin, TX, captured first place in the ages 12 and over category, with two of her brothers, Reuel, 12, and Shealteil, 7, winning second place in the ages 12 and over and ages 7 and under categories, respectively.

The most entries were in the ages 8 to 11 category, which was won by Aaron Yamagata, 10, of Encino, CA. Andrew Goulet, 6, of Westfield, NJ won first place in the 7 and under category.

Prizes for the 13 winners - a grand prize winner plus four in each of the three age categories - consisted of American First Day Cover Society youth scholarships, 62 first day covers donated by supporting cachetmakers, subscriptions to Stamp Collector, and engraved brass plates from Wehners Awards. Erik Tomsen, 14, the JPA's first vice president and last year's grand prize winner, made certificates for all 13 winners that included the images of their winning cachets.

All entrants in the contest were winners, however, since they all they all had their cacheted envelopes returned to them canceled as first day covers.

The four contest judges were two cachetmakers and two FDC collectors. The cachetmakers were Doris Gold, member of the AFDCS Cachetmakers' Court of Honor, and Tom O'Hagan of S&T Cachets. The two collectors were Courtney Huff, youth JPA member, and Dave Moorshead, adult JPA director.

The judging criteria consisted of Overall Impression, Creativity, Consistency with the Stamp Issue, and Technical Ability. Given the difficulty posed in drawing cachets for the Deep Sea Creatures stamps, Consistency with the Stamp Issue became very important this year.

The contest raised the awareness of first day covers among the entrants, and it's anticipated that the third annual contest, to be conducted next fall, will have even greater participation.