The 6th International Philatelic Exhibition EuroScout 2006 held at Alcalá de Henares in Spain is already history.  It was a great success and our Spanish friends are to be congratulated on such a successful exhibition.
There were some 200 frames from 50 exhibitors who came from 19 different countries.  The show was very well supported by both visitors and local Scout groups and it was estimated that some 900 attended.  The Dinner on the Saturday evening was also a great success with 75 sitting down for a most enjoyable meal.

Reading the October 2006 edition of the magazine Stamp & Coin Mart there was an article on "Stamps in The Espionage War".  What interested me was that the article stated "An Englishman who engaged in espionage was Colonel Baden-Powell who used his talents as a water-colourist to produce innocuous sketches which were utilised by British Intelligence.  One of these was actually reproduced in a set of stamps issued by Greece to mark the 11th World Scout Jamboree at Marathon in 1963; a fine view of Athens at dawn".  This is news to me, but I am sure that many of you know of his sketch showing a butterfly in his book My Adventures as a Spy (pub. 1915) was drawn while he was spying, to show a fort and gun emplacements at Dalmatia now in Croatia.

I recently attended Belgica'06 the International Philatelic show which was held at the Heysel Exhibition Centre in Brussels.  Congratulations go to our member Gottfried Steinmann from Germany who won his first "Gold" for his display "The Warsaw Uprising 1944 and its Scouts".  Also on show was a Scout exhibit by Panayotis Cangelaris from Greece which won a Large Silver.  The exhibit showed some very rare items and many of these can be seen on his website http://www.cangelaris.com/exsco.htm

At a recent sale held by Argyll Etkin in London, a 1929 World Jamboree registered cover sent from Arrowe Park to Gibraltar made £2587 which includes the buyers premium (about US$ 4900, Euro 3750) This is one of only two recorded registered covers sent abroad and I believe is a record price.  Posted on 29th July 1929, the cover was sent to Capt. Smye and cancelled by a superb strike of the Arrowe Park skeleton datestamp.  It has the Birkenhead No. 9 registration label and the blue Air Mail label and pink label "Reserve for Airmail".

A reminder also that the International Badgers Club will be hosting the Scouting Centenary World Collectors Meeting on Saturday 3rd March at Gilwell Park, London.  The meeting starts at 10.30 am and follows the IBC Annual General Meeting being held at 9.30.

The next EuroScout meeting will be held in Switzerland from Friday 25 - Sunday 27th July 2008. and will be held close to the Swiss National Camp for Scouts and Guides which is being held at the same time.  The site is situated between Lake Zurich and Lake Walenstadt.

At a recent SGSC committee meeting it was agreed that we hold the 2010 EuroScout meeting in the UK. In the past we have held exhibitions in London to coincide with the International Stamp Exhibitions, which in 2010 is from May 8 to 15 at the Design Centre in Islington.  It is planned that we hold our show the second weekend of this exhibition and as London is becoming so expensive it is hoped that this will be in the Chelmsford area, where of course the 2007 World Jamboree will be held.

I often quote Ebay in my notes and thought you would be interested to read about the Smilers sheet which was produced by the Bristol Scouts. The description given by the seller was "Bristol North West Scout District customised stamp sheetlet.  Believed to be the only Scout themed Smilers sheet in existence, it has been produced to mark the end of this historic District.  The sheet is in A4 size, in full colour containing fully valid self- adhesive 1st class stamps.  It shows representative scenes from activities organised or supported by the District.  Each stamp has a label attached showing the colours of one of the constituent groups.  The design is unique and is a one-only print run with no more that 950 complete sheets in existence".  One of these sold for £520 (US$ 990 Euro 755) in October. Another one was offered for sale in December and made £172.  The actual value of the ten valid stamps is £3.20, and it would appear from the Royal Mail website that to purchase 950 sheets, it would have cost £9.00 each plus VAT which although is not applicable to the cost of the stamps, is levied on the sheets and labels.  A total cost of approximately £10 each.