Darjeeling catches glance of Penny Black; ALPINE 2019 held

SINGTAM, SEPTEMBER 21: Darjeeling gathered to have a glimpse of Penny Black, the World’s First Postage Stamp at Hayden Hall as Alpine Philatelic and Numismatic Society, Darjeeling organized ALPINE 2019, a Philatelic and Numismatic Exhibition on the 20^thSeptember. More than 10,000 postal stamps and coins were displayed at the event. This was the second edition of the exhibition that had a huge appreciation last year. 

The other highlight of the day was the felicitation of philatelist Shital Pradhan and Passang Sherpa, Mr. Darjeeling 2019 for his endless guidance and support to the ANPS family. Four postcards – three featuring paintings of Darjeeling by Sunny Tamang, a young local budding artist, and one dedicated to the 50^th Anniversary of the Hayden Hall were released at the event. Visitors purchased the posts cards and posted them through the Vintage Letter Box installed at the event. 

Different award-winning philatelic exhibits on different themes like Music, Women Empowerment, Postal System, Birds, World Disney Cartoons, Flowers, Sports, Animals, the Gorkha Riffles, and coins of different eras – British India, Republic India, foreign coins, and the currency was exhibited. The students of North Point Academy and Springdale Nursery School also took part in the exhibition.

Distinguished guests present at the event included Rev. Fr Paul Director of Hayden Hall, Mr. Bimal Rai Asst. Superintendent of Posts, Mr. Rahul Amulya Pradhan MBKS, Mr. Bijendra Pradhan Bizzography, Dr. Yasmine Tamang DDMA, Mr. Derek Pradhan VVA. 

Fifteen schools from Darjeeling were invited for a Sit and Draw and Letter Writing Competition. The day’s long program ended with the prize distribution to the winners of the competitions by Mr. Vivek Chettri - The Telegraph and Mr. Bobby Wylde the judges for the Letter Writing and Sit and Draw Competition respectively. A Photo-booth with props in the shape of a stamp and call-outs encouraging hobbies was set up. It was one of the highlights where students and visitors took turns of click photos.

APNS was formed with the sole motive of reviving and encouraging intellectual hobbies among the youths to keep them away from the ill elements of society or mobile phone addiction. It is our effort and our contribution to the society for a better future’ said Vivek Yonzone, the Secretary of ANPS. This year, just a year after the inauguration, we have a lot of students displaying their collection of stamps and coins which means we are heading the right way added Yonzone.  The event was supported by North Point Academy, Darjeeling.