Tom Sivak, owner of Tom's Stamps, shows off some of his collection at his business on April 25 in Butler. Sivak is also a stamp dealer and buyer.

Butler County is filled with a variety of people doing interesting things. This weekly feature offers snapshots of some of them by asking them five questions. The latest installment appears below.

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Tom Sivak of Butler is the treasurer of the Butler County Philatelic Society.

The group will sponsor Butlerpex, its 65th annual stamp exhibition and bourse, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 6 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 7 at the Tanglewood Center, 10 Austin Ave., Lyndora.

Sivak is also a stamp dealer and buyer. Here, he shares information about his favorite hobby.

Question: Where do collectors get their stamps?Answer: They can buy them at the post office, go to stamp shows or buy them from dealers. There are bigger companies out there that have mail order, so you can buy your material that way.

Question: What are your favorite stamps to collect?Answer: Probably my favorite stamps are the U.S. Airmail stamps because of the design. Most of the material that I do like is the early stuff because of the engraving and the real sharpness of the stamps. It just seems like there was a lot more work put into them back then, opposed to the new material coming out now.

Question: As a stamp dealer, what is the most valuable stamp you’ve ever appraised?Answer: The U.S. Airmail Zeppelins are a fairly expensive set of (three) stamps because of the rarity of them. They’re airmail stamps from the 1930s. If they were never hinged (mounted with an adhesive in an album), they’d be worth around $2,200, but if they were, they’d be around $1,500. That’s not the most expensive; somewhere along the line I’m sure I’ve handled something a little more valuable, but really nothing into the five or six figures.

QUESTION: This year’s show includes a cacheted envelope with a postal cancel honoring the Butler County Humane Society. What groups have been recognized at past shows?ANSWER: Everything was chosen as something in our county. We’ve done nothing outside the county. We’ve had Pullman, Armco, the Maridon Museum. We’ve had the Bantam Jeep, Abie Abraham, Michele McDonald, Terry Hanratty ... We do things that are local to Butler County.

Question: How can stamp collecting be educational?Answer: Stamps are history. Stamps are issued for a reason or they represent someone in our history. With worldwide stamps, you have all the different countries so you can learn geography and history from them.