Celebrating Monday’s opening of the David E. Kampe Tower at Penticton Regional Hospital included the unveiling of a special commemorative stamp and cover (envelope).
Pictured on the stamp displayed for the first time Monday was Kampe, who was scheduled to be at the unveiling but was unable to make it.
Presiding over the unveiling, held during the afternoon on the main floor of the new building, were Harv Baessler who initiated the project with the late Gus Boersma of the Penticton and District Stamp Club, Boersma’s wife Sigrid and Yvonne Konar, the daughter of former stamp club member Norbert Ricker.
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The club managed to raise $37,000 for the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation for the tower and now has a patient care room bearing its name in the facility.
The Kampe stamp also has the Canada Post cancellation mark making it official.
Kampe himself was initially presented with a sketch of the cover that includes images of the three former hospitals and a photo of the current tower.
Liking the idea, he topped up the funds to produce the work with the plan to distribute a number of free covers to the general public, making him a two-thirds donor of the overall cost.
“The people who donated stamps to the stamp club, that’s the ones who are the real heroes they allowed us to sell them off at a our club meetings and accumulate over $30,000,” said Baessler at the unveiling. “With those stamp donations from little bits and pieces to great big collections we’ve had much help.”
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Sigrid spoke about her late husband and his commitment to the project.
“I as his wife have the pleasure to represent him here at this very important event where he would have loved to be,” she said. “Gus was one of the go getters for this stamp club for many years.
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“The executive of stamp often met in our home in Gus’ office or man cave and was always lots of fun. I too enjoyed those friendly and loud meetings listening to their laughter as they were planning and setting up and so when the new hospital was in the planning they saw and opportunity for a new project to work for in raising money and a new stamp and today you will see the results of their hard work benefiting this new hospital.”
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Mark Brett | Reporter
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