Junior Member Newsletter - January 2013.pub

American Racing
Pigeon Union
Pigeon
Tracks
Winter 2012/2013
In this issue:
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
The paper copy has been discontinued. The on-line version will remain. To request a
paper copy of the current issue, please contact us. 1-800-755-2778.
2013 AU NATIONAL YOUTH RACE
COMING UP! ARE YOU READY?
Karen Clifton, Executive Director
The 16th annual AU National
Youth Race is just around the corner
and we hope you will join in the fun!
All participants will receive a certificate or plaque. The winner will receive a plaque, trophy and be invited
to attend the 2014 convention as our
guest.
The race will be held during the
AU Convention in sunny Florida.
The convention is being hosted by the
Gulfcoast Homing Club. Mr. Tom
Kurz will be the
loft handler.
The race will be
200 miles from
Alma, Georgia and is open to all AU
junior members.
Applications should be signed by a
parent or legal guardian and returned
to the office by no later than
March 1, 2013. As soon as applications are received, we will send notification advising of shipping details.
Olivia Hindi and Her Champion
Spirit—by Dylan Patera
Page 2
Thomas Strand 2011 Youth Race Win- Page 3
ner goes to the AU Convention—by
Dylan Patera
Essay on Winning - by Dylan Patera
Page 4
Junior Members Exhibit Their Skills
Page 5
A Note From Thomas Strand
Page 6
Are Your Birds Ready To Race? By
Karen Clifton
Page 6
New Auburn Club/Camellia City
Combine Junior Flyer Has The Right
Stuff! By Joyce Stierlin
Page 6
Immigrants help carry on ancient
sport . . .
Page 8
Whatcom middle schooler named pigeon racing ambassador . . .
Page 9
Applications must be received prior
to shipment for entry into the race.
We hope you will participate and
look forward to hearing from you
soon!
16th Annual Youth National Race
APPLICATION FORM
The AU “Youth National Race” is open to all AU junior members. The race will be held during the 2013 AU Convention in Florida (November 20 through November 24, 2013). Please print the following:
NAME:_________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS:_____________________________________________________________
CITY:________________________________ STATE:_______ ZIP:_______________
PHONE:_________________________ CLUB:________________________________
E-MAIL ADDRESS:______________________________________________________
I hereby indicate that I wish to participate in the 2013 AU “National Youth Race”. I certify that any 2013 young bird
I may enter in the “National Youth Race” has been raised and cared for by me.
______ Yes, I plan to attend.
______ I will be unable to attend, but am excited to enter a bird.
______ I would like to have my bird returned after the race. (Cost of shipping to be
coordinated through handler.)
__________________________________
(Signature – Junior Member)
___________________________________
(Signature – Parent/Guardian
Return this application form to the AU national office. It must be mailed to arrive by March 1, 2013.
Mail to: American Racing Pigeon Union, Inc. P.O. Box 18465, Oklahoma City, OK 73154
American Racing Pigeon Union
A Century of Excellence!
P.O. Box 18465
Oklahoma City, OK 73154-0465
Phone: 405-848-5801
Fax: 405-848-5888
Email: [email protected]
www.pigeon.org
GI Joe
American Hero
Olivia Hindi and her Champion Spirit By Dylan Patera, AU Youth Ambassador
The AU 15th Annual Dr. Frank
Greenhall Memorial National Youth
Race was held in Tulare, California
on the 16th of November during AU
convention on and the prize was a
new iPod donated by the Sportsman
Combine and the race was sponsored by the AU.
95 birds were sent to the
youth loft by June. 27 competed in
the race. The handler was a generous Jose Yanez. Congratulations to
Olivia Hindi for winning!!!!!. And
in 2nd place McCabe Garfield, 3rd
Silvia Mcclauseny, and in 4th Luke
Salnovia. Olivia’s bird came in at
an epic 895.801 100 yards per second!
Olivia Hindi is 10 years old
and lives in Hacienda Heights, CA.
The winning bird was a Leen Boer
Janssen. The mother a Leen Boer/
Janssen was 6th place in the 2011
youth race and the father a leen Boer flew in the 2010 Triple Crown in
San Diego. The winning bird was a
blue bar splash cock named
"Spirit". She said she named him
because he was a bird that fought to
get home in bad weather. She said
the race was amazing. She saw old
friends that she’s known for years.
She was excited when race
day finally arrived because she told
her brothers all year she was going
to win. When her bird won she was
nervous and excited she just
thought it was a dream. She would
like to thank her dad who is her
mentor. He helped her with the
birds.
She has 3 brothers (Josiah 12,
Kamal Jr. 11, and her twin brother
Caleb 10) and her older sister Ciara
18. She started helping her dad in
2007 with the birds and entered her
first youth race in which she placed
6th in Michigan with a cousin to
this year’s winner. She was hooked
ever since. She loves going out early in the morning and seeing the
birds and going to the races and
2
meeting all the nice people that fly pigeons.
Her favorite part
about this year’s convention was all the new
friends she made. She
says thanks to Thomas
Strand and Sean DeVries
her brothers had a great
time playing with them
and to Jose Yanez for doing a great job with the
youth birds and donating
his time and all the hard
work.
She guesses flying
pigeons is a family tradition and she hopes will
continue. Her dad had pigeons passed on to him
from his dad. She shares a
loft with her dad and
breeds her birds in individual cages.
Her favorite pigeons
are the blue bar white
flight splashes. Her favorite thing about pigeons is
raising babies from the
breeders and flying them — also all
the nice people she meets and making new friends. Her least favorite
is cleaning their cages.
Her pigeon racing tips are
“winners breed winners” and your
best birds will always be given to
you by your friends. It takes hard
work, healthy pigeons, and a good
system to win races. When she’s
not flying pigeons she likes to play
the trumpet, read good books, run
cross country, play with her dog
Maverick, and play board games.
Her favorite movie is Secretariat.
The AU convention was
amazing she said. She met a lot of
nice people and saw a lot of her old
friends. Her dad always told her the
best part about pigeon racing is all
the nice people and friendships you
make. She would like to thank her
family and everyone that she met at
the convention. She’s grateful because she was given an opportunity
(Continued on page 5)
Thomas Strand 2011 Youth Race Winner
goes to the AU Convention - and says this about it
By Dylan Patera, AU Youth Ambassador
Thomas Strand
came from Bellingham,
Washington and is the
winner of the 2011 Youth
Race. He came to the
convention to accept his
award and look at pigeons. Here is what he
thought of the AU convention in California on
November 18 at the Holiday Inn in La Mirada,
California.
He said that monopoly was really popular
there and that next convention someone should
bring a board. He would
recommend it to other
kids. He also said that
there were a lot of people
250 people to be precise.
He noticed that the Herb
Cartmell’s display was
the most interesting. He
didn’t come back with
birds. The highest bird in
the auction went for 1000
DOLLAR$. There were
200 birds there.
Thomas says his favorite presentation was
‘The guy with the book
that says how to take care of the
birds’. [Bill “The Book” Richardson]
Giving a speech at the award
banquet was fun for him, he said
lots of pigeons were there, and
there weren’t any kid’s activity. So
we got a picture of Thomas himself
accepting the award, which was the
funnest thing at the convention for
him. Thomas liked it, and he plans
on going again if his can. He noticed that there were lots of people
including Albert Eerwa from South
Africa and there were also people
from Florida, Washington D.C., and
Belgium. He learned that there
were a lot more colors of pigeons
than he thought there were.
Jedds was selling pigeon stuff
there he said. He and his Mom won
an I-Tunes gift card in the raffle. He
thought that the view from his hotel
ing around whooping (not
Olivia).
Dylan: Where is your
award plaque?
Thomas: My plaque sits in
the doorway of my room
so I can see it when I go in
and out. I have it memorized.
Dylan: Is there anything
you would suggest for the
convention next year?
Thomas: One thing I
would change is that when
the kid wins the free trip to
the convention that it includes the parent too.
was pretty. He also noticed that
there were lots of people with AU
shirts there. He also liked getting
his plaque signed by AU President
Freddie Rivera and Executive Director Karen Clifton.
Dylan: Do you think they
should have it in Washington next year?
Thomas: At the next Evergreen meeting I am going
to see if we can get it in
Washington. I don’t think
it will happen because
there may not be enough
people to handle the 1000
birds. Some lofts (in California) only had 10 birds.
Some birds they wanted to
train for long and short distance.
There can be a whole bunch of
birds at the race, people like Ganus
who have a lot of money can fill up
the area really fast.
Dylan: Did you meet a bird handler?
Q&A with Dylan & Thomas
Thomas: Yes his name is Jose YaDylan: Are you going to read Pi- nez. Yeah I was at his loft, he was
geon Tracks?
nice and he got an award - the ‘AU
Thomas: I have not read it, I could. Elwin Anderson Legends of the
Sport’ award.
Dylan: What was the happiest thing
that happened at the convention?
Dylan: What was his loft like and
Thomas: When I got to pick out
how was it different that yours?
raffles and accept the award.
Thomas: He had more maybe four
lofts, one was similar had two comDylan: What was the funniest
partments, the other one , you know
thing?
the dog kennels that Jerry
Thomas: I would have to say it was [Guilmette, Thunderbird RPC menwhen Olivia figured out that her
tor] has, he has two of those kind
(Continued on page 5)
bird had won her dad started jump3
Essay on Winning – Wins! By Dylan Patera
This interview of, and by the
winner of the 2012 Youth Membership Essay Contest (yes I am interviewing myself), the topic was to
describe winning. This was my
first time winning any AU contest.
This interview is some of my views
on pigeon stuff and more. The
prize was a Benzing Clock from Ed
Minvielle and Benzing, the contest
was sponsored by the American Pigeon Racing Union. This was the
10th contest. They had the contest
to promote writing and to get kids
more interested in pigeon racing
and give a kid a clock and see
youth participation in the sport
grow.
The Interview:
Q: How old are you?
A: I am 11 years old.
Q: Where do you live?
A: I live in Bellingham WA, it’s
very rainy.
Q: What kinds of pigeon activities
do you do?
A: Racing pigeons, training pigeons, memorial bird releases.
Q: How long have you been involved with racing pigeons?
A: Three joyful pigeon filled years.
Q: Why did you write the essay?
A: I wrote the essay because I
wanted to win a clock. I also got a
Klondike bar for writing if I got the
essay finished in a certain amount
of time I would get a Klondike bar
from my mom.
Q: What did you write the essay
about?
A: I wrote about winning and what
it feels like to win and the good
feeling of winning, and it was about
good sportsmanship, some tips,
how I take care of my birds, that
kind of stuff.
Q: When did you write the essay?
A: I wrote the essay about two or
three months ago.
lates to pigeon racing? If so, how?
A: In Dr Who there is a WWII sceQ: What is your favorite color pi- ne they had pigeons in. I am a fan
geon?
of Dr Who and I am a fan of piA: My favorite color of pigeon is geons.
probably dark check, white flights,
brown tint, black head, splash with Q: What was your motivation to
red pied eye, lots of beetling color, write the essay?
the stuff on their neck is beetleness, A: My motivation was a five star
like the shiny part. I don’t actually awesome clock generously donated
have a bird that has that, but I wish by Ed Minvielle and Benzing. I
I did.
like writing more now that I have a
purpose and subject I am interested
Q: What is your favorite Dr Who
in to write about.
episode? Who is Dr Who?
A: Dr Who is a time traveling guy Q: How did you get into pigeons?
with a bow tie by BBC, it is the
A: I got into pigeons because I
longest running TV show. I would found a pigeon in front of my Drs
have to say the ’Pandorica’, beOffice. We were waiting in my Drs
cause it has plastic Romans, they
Office; I got bored I asked front
are awesome, and it has Autons,
desk if I could go outside. I found a
Daleks, Sontaurians, and any ene- pigeon outside! I caught it, somemy that Dr Who has ever faced.
one gave us a shoe box and I put
the pigeon in the box. We brought
(Continued on page 5)
Q: Is there a way that Dr Who re4
Olivia Hindi, continued
(Continued from page 2)
to participate in the youth race.
Olivia said “Thanks to the sports-
man combine for donating an iPod I wait to see everyone in Florida next
am definitely going to enjoy play- year.
ing angry birds on it”. She can’t
Thomas Strand, continued
(Continued from page 3)
of , cage in front and covered are
with perches in the back. He had
owl pigeons held them by the tail so
they would flap their wings to attract the racing pigeons. They had
fun chasing other pigeons. Their
lofts were painted tan. It was in the
city.
Dylan: Do you have any pigeon
tips?
Thomas: (this question is) A little
broad for me. (no)
Dylan: What are your pigeon
dreams for the future?
Thomas: I would like have a club
that I could race with every year until I quit pigeon flying.
Dylan: Anything else you want to
say
Thomas: I think other kids could
put birds in the youth race and other
kids would find it exciting too, and
that other kids would like the convention too.
Dylan: Who’s your favorite pigeon? Why?
Thomas: Scotty -Cause he is my
And that’s all for now kids
favorite color, recessive red. He
stay tuned for more fun articles in
was the first pigeon that I had at my the next issue of Pigeon Tracks.
loft. The first pigeon in my possession was McQueen at the 4-H loft.
Dylan Patera continued
,
(Continued from page 4)
it home because it had a band and
we thought it was a pet we wanted
to call the owner and give it back.
It was from a 350 mile race, Canada, and we called the club. The
club said the owner said we could
keep the pigeon. She was a nice
bird who has a parent from Belgium, her name was Piggee, don’t
blame me for the name I was only
9. Then we kept her and we got
more pigeons and that’s how I got
into pigeons. I still have Piggee
she’s a great bird. I was lucky to
find such a tame bird like Piggee.
Q: What’s the coolest thing about
pigeons?
A: The coolest thing about pigeons
is when they are squeakers and they
look like porcupines, their ability to
come back after flying long distances, and also all the colors of pigeons. They are so tame, they will
sit on your shoulders, one little
squeaker liked to watch batman.
A: The winner writes about winning in another winning article, describing his big win, which is how
the winner got this winning job of
Youth Ambassador by winning the
essay contest. I would like to express my thanks to Ed Minvielle,
Q: What’s the un-coolest thing
Benzing, AU – Karen Clifton, Deabout pigeons?
one Roberts, and all the people who
A: My least favorite thing is clean- have helped me by giving me birds,
ing up.
support, learning about pigeons and
Q: Do you have any pigeon tips?
A: Take good care of them and al- how to take care of them and stuff.
ways be open to advice. Make sure That’s all great and winning is good
but don’t forget it’s all about the pithat they are clean and happy.
geon community, the people, and
Q: Anything else you would like to the fun of flying pigeons!
say?
Junior Members Exhibit Their Skills - Comments From The Editor I hope you have a chance to
see the various skills exhibited by
our junior members, as I had in
meeting some of these members
and receiving these articles.
Our reporters, past and present, show tremendous reporting
skills when submitting for the
“Tracks.” Others have superb
photography skills. (You will have
a chance to see some of the pictures
in future Tracks issues.) You likely
know a junior member who exhibits
great leadership skills, or maybe
5
great organizational skills, people
skills and so on.
Our junior members are awesome and will be our community
leaders in the future. We wish them
the best of everything.
A Note From Thomas Strand. . .
I am sending this thank you out to all of the members of the AU for having last years youth race. Without it my bird could not have won me the ability to attend this years convention.
I had a fantastic time at this years convention. I especially like the neat identification tag that I was given. Boy, were people surprised when they looked at my tag to find out where I cam from and found out that I
was last years youth race winner.
I got to meet my Zone Director, Tom Coletti, who was very happy when I got to sit next to him at dinner.
I was greatly saddened when Tom had to leave early from the convention. I got to meet other interesting people too, like Karen Clifton, Freddie Rivera, Deone Roberts, Jim (James) Greelis and Jose Yanez. It was very
encouraging to be around other pigeon flyers.
I really like the three seminars that they had. I thought that they were very informative.
I am also very proud of being nominated and selected as Junior AU Member Of The Year. I was surprised that not only was I getting the award, but that I would get to accept it at the AU convention.
I will also extend a thank you to my leaders, Jerry and Evelyn Guilmette, for teaching me and giving me
my first pigeons that became part of my breeding foundation. And to my parents Michael and Vicki Strand for
driving me to all the workshops and shows I needed to and for building my loft.
I have to say, before I went to a convention, I was a bit scared and had no idea that one would be so fun.
Now that I do, I want to come to more conventions and will encourage other people to go to them.
Sincerely,
Thomas Strand
Are Your Birds Ready To Race?
By Karen Clifton, AU Executive Director
With race season just around
the corner, you are more than likely
getting ready to start training. Hopefully, you are getting
some good pointers from members
in your club. Some of you are even
enrolled in the Help-A-Beginner
program and are getting input from
your mentors.
We encourage you to take
time to look through the AU website (www.pigeon.org). Specifically, under the Special Interest section, you will find a list of veterinarians that may be helpful.
It is important to provide a
clean and healthy loft environment
for your team. There are several
basic care suggestions (Biosecurity)
and tips from veterinarians on our
site at
http://pigeon.org/veterinarytips.htm.
Providing best care for your
birds will ensure better results. Your birds will be happy and
healthy, a team you can be proud
of!
We wish you all the very best
of luck in the 2013 Old Bird season!
NEW AUBURN CLUB/CAMELLIA CITY COMBINE JUNIOR FLYER HAS THE RIGHT STUFF! By Joyce Stierlin (Windancer Loft)
KRISSY O’MALLEY-RAPP,
a new 16-year-old flyer with the
Auburn Club and Camellia City
Combine, showed us all she knows
how to choose, care for, and train
her birds to compete with the likes
of top young bird flyers such as
Steve Sterchi, Jim Ryan, Frank
Martinez, Larry Holmes and Joe
Neves. Her grandparents, Bob and
Claire Rapp of Penn Valley, couldn’t be prouder of this young lady.
In her first season, 2012
Young Birds, she won 1st place
club and combine at the 220-miler
and 1st place club at the 250-miler.
Her birds placed in the top 10% in 6
of 16 races at the club level and in 9
of 16 races at the combine level.
She earned 6 AU club diplomas and
17 AU combine diplomas—quite an
accomplishment for a new junior
flyer!
Krissy just missed qualifying
one of her birds for California State
Racing
Pigeon
Organization’s
Young Bird Hall of Fame. Her AU
2012 AUB 816 blue bar cock
earned 14th place combine against
387 birds at Imlay (220 miles), 9th
place combine against 357 birds at
Winnemucca (250 miles), and 18th
6
place combine against 279 birds at
Valmy (270 miles). Just a few
minutes faster at Valmy would have
earned that bird a third diploma and
qualification for Hall of Fame.
Krissy is a hard worker and
dedicated flyer who does all the
work with the birds herself. She has
set her sights on an admirable
goal—a prestigious CSRPO Disney
Award. She’ll be flying both Old
Birds and Young Birds in the coming years, so keep an eye on this up
-and-coming star! (See her results
next page.)
KRISSY O’MALLEY-RAPP Race Results
WinSpeed-6
Auburn RPC
Single Flyer Report
Krissys Loft
12/27/12-16:59
Page 1
POS NAME
BAND NUMBER
CLR X ARRIVAL
MILES TOWIN
YPM PT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12IML1 Date: 09/08/2012 Station: IMLAY NEVADA
6 Lofts / 107 Birds
10 Krissys Lo/14 628
AU 12 AUB
BC
C 11:06:05 189.313 11.26 1353.845 91
11 Krissys Loft
820
AU 12 SHOW BB
C 11:06:28 2/ 14 11.49 1351.740 90
12 Krissys Loft
816
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 11:06:33 3/ 14 11.54 1351.283 89
13 Krissys Loft
830
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 11:06:40 4/ 14 12.01 1350.644 88
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12IML2 Date: 09/08/2012 Station: IMLAY NEVADA
6 Lofts / 106 Birds
1 Krissys Lo/15 232
AU 12 KEHO BBPD C 11:22:31 189.313 00.00 1432.870 100
2 Krissys Loft
837
AU 12 AUB
BC
C 11:24:29 2/ 15 01.58 1420.812 99
3 Krissys Loft
805
AU 12 AUB
BBWF C 11:33:09 3/ 15 10.37 1370.230 98
11 Krissys Loft 2381
AU 12 WOWP BB
C 11:43:05 4/ 15 20.34 1316.418 90
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12WIN1 Date: 09/15/2012 Station: WINNEMUCCA NEVADA
5 Lofts / 87 Birds
7 Krissys Lo/15 816
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 12:36:00 219.457 09.14 1149.483 94
8 Krissys Loft
629
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 12:36:02 2/ 15 09.16 1149.340 93
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12WIN2 Date: 09/15/2012 Station: WINNEMUCCA NEVADA
5 Lofts / 87 Birds
1 Krissys Lo/15 822
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 13:26:33 219.457 00.00 1083.217 100
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12VAL1 Date: 09/22/2012 Station: VALMY NEVADA
6 Lofts / 102 Birds
6 Krissys Lo/12 294
AU 12 KEHO BC
C 12:59:03 241.712 11.26 1184.765 95
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12VAL2 Date: 09/22/2012 Station: VALMY NEVADA
6 Lofts / 100 Birds
5 Krissys Lo/11 837
AU 12 AUB
BC
C 13:25:26 241.712 08.04 1196.813 96
WinSpeed-6
Camellia City Combine
12/27/12-16:49
Single Flyer Report
Page 1
Krissys Loft
POS NAME
BAND NUMBER
CLR X ARRIVAL
MILES TOWIN
YPM PT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12LOV2 Date: 09/01/2012 Station: LOVELOCK NEVADA
23 Lofts / 405 Birds
17 Krissys Lo/19 630
AU 12 AUB
BC
C 11:14:33 165.871 10.31 1300.062 112
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12IML1 Date: 09/08/2012 Station: IMLAY NEVADA
24 Lofts / 387 Birds
12 Krissys Lo/14 628
AU 12 AUB
BC
C 11:06:05 189.313 11.26 1353.845 132
13 Krissys Loft
820
AU 12 SHOW BB
C 11:06:28 2/ 14 11.49 1351.740 129
14 Krissys Loft
816
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 11:06:33 3/ 14 11.54 1351.283 127
15 Krissys Loft
830
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 11:06:40 4/ 14 12.01 1350.644 125
33 Krissys Loft
819
AU 12 AUB
SLT C 11:10:33 5/ 14 15.53 1329.720 89
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12IML2 Date: 09/08/2012 Station: IMLAY NEVADA
21 Lofts / 342 Birds
1 Krissys Lo/15 232
AU 12 KEHO BBPD C 11:22:31 189.313 00.00 1432.870 152
2 Krissys Loft
837
AU 12 AUB
BC
C 11:24:29 2/ 15 01.58 1420.812 150
3 Krissys Loft
805
AU 12 AUB
BBWF C 11:33:09 3/ 15 10.37 1370.230 148
11 Krissys Loft 2381
AU 12 WOWP BB
C 11:43:05 4/ 15 20.34 1316.418 130
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12WIN1 Date: 09/15/2012 Station: WINNEMUCCA NEVADA
24 Lofts / 357 Birds
9 Krissys Lo/15 816
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 12:36:00 219.457 09.14 1149.483 150
10 Krissys Loft
629
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 12:36:02 2/ 15 09.16 1149.340 147
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12WIN2 Date: 09/15/2012 Station: WINNEMUCCA NEVADA
21 Lofts / 292 Birds
2 Krissys Lo/15 822
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 13:26:33 219.457 02.18 1083.217 166
29 Krissys Loft
628
AU 12 AUB
BC
C 14:08:03 2/ 15 43.48 970.300 86
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12VAL1 Date: 09/22/2012 Station: VALMY NEVADA
25 Lofts / 330 Birds
10 Krissys Lo/12 294
AU 12 KEHO BC
C 12:59:03 241.712 11.26 1184.765 153
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12VAL2 Date: 09/22/2012 Station: VALMY NEVADA
24 Lofts / 279 Birds
8 Krissys Lo/11 837
AU 12 AUB
BC
C 13:25:26 241.712 10.33 1196.813 155
15 Krissys Loft
819
AU 12 AUB
SLT C 13:31:49 2/ 11 16.56 1175.704 132
18 Krissys Loft
816
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 13:34:35 3/ 11 19.42 1166.762 122
28 Krissys Loft
807
AU 12 AUB
BB
C 13:41:27 4/ 11 26.33 1145.235 90
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12BAT1 Date: 10/06/2012 Station: BATTLE MTN NEVADA
22 Lofts / 243 Birds
19 Krissys Lof/9 425
AU 12 AUB
BC
C 12:30:11 247.177 10.38 1402.438 111
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Race: YB12BAT2 Date: 10/06/2012 Station: BATTLE MTN NEVADA
21 Lofts / 241 Birds
8 Krissys Lof/9 294
AU 12 KEHO BC
C 12:55:28 247.177 08.15 1424.076 153
9 Krissys Loft 2381
AU 12 WOWP BB
C 12:55:34 2/ 9 08.21 1423.610 149
10 Krissys Loft
606
AU 12 AUB
DC
C 12:55:46 3/ 9 08.33 1422.679 145
7
Reprinted from the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020106713_sarah11.html
Immigrants help carry on ancient sport: pigeon racing
By Sarah Stuteville
Special to the Seattle Times
His dining-room walls feature plaques
from races won and photo-portraits of
The crowd happily throws out the na- prizewinning pigeons. His pigeon loft,
tionalities of its members: Mexico, Po- nicknamed the "Blue Danube," takes
land, Taiwan and Morocco,
Pigeon racing is a centuries-old, world- just to name a few.
wide sport thought to have originated
in Europe. It attracts enthusiasts from Members raise their own
around the world — including a bunch birds in custom-built plywood
of guys crowded into a Kent basement lofts, often in their backyards.
on a recent Saturday morning.
Despite the old-world vibe,
club president.
pigeon racing has become
Eagles are majestic. Doves are roman- surprisingly 21st century.
tic. Pigeons, with their tatty wings and Pigeons are banded with plasstreet-living ways, are seen by many
tic bar codes on their legs, and
folks as dumb and dirty, referred to as lofts are outfitted with barthe "rats of the sky."
code scanners. "Like a gro-
George Dobre, who started racing pigeons as a child in Romania,
shows off a prize bird in his backyard in Kent.
But if you ever met a sleek-feathered,
iridescent-colored, sharp-eyed racing
pigeon, you'd never think of his cousin
— that humble creature eating bread
crusts in Pioneer Square — the same
way again.
cery store," Dobre says.
Pigeon racing is a centuries-old, worldwide sport thought to have originated
in Europe. It attracts enthusiasts from
around the world — including a bunch
of guys crowded into a Kent basement
on a recent Saturday morning, sitting
on folding chairs balancing paper cups
of coffee and Safeway doughnuts on
their laps.
He pulls his favorite pigeon, named AlMembers compete against each other ba Iulia after a city in Romania, from
and other pigeon racers throughout the the fluttering brood. She is pigeon roystate.
alty. Plump and haughty, her color
shifts from green to pink in the overWhile racing hasn't always been so
cast-afternoon light.
high-tech (pigeons used to be fitted
with mechanical clocks), here in the
Through some mystery of nature, homPacific Northwest it has historically
ing pigeons can permanently orient
been a pastime of immigrants.
themselves to their lofts, giving them
The Greater Seattle Racing Pigeon
Club — the biggest pigeon-racing club
in Washington, with 38 members —
has begun meeting for the 2013 season.
"I got to know all the old-timers, the
immigrants, Belgian and German,"
says Jack Ibuki, who started racing in
the early 1960s when he was a teenager, "A lot of them lived in the Beacon
Hill area. That was the so-called 'hot
spot' of racing pigeons."
Birds are transported to race points
throughout Washington, Oregon and
California, then let loose to fly back to
their individual lofts. Times are
clocked and stored by the loft scanners.
Racing won't start for another couple
of months. But this year's crop of pigeons are a week old and need to be
banded with the numbers that will fol- And while Ibuki says local interest in
low them throughout their racing capigeon racing has waned since he was
reers.
a kid, the Seattle club boasts its highest
membership ever, a boon that leaderI first saw trained pigeons being exer- ship credits to new immigrants. Two
cised in formation off a rooftop in
potential new members at Saturday's
Brooklyn, N.Y. I've watched them
meeting are both from Mexico.
swoop through pink sunsets in India
and fly back-dropped by minarets in
"There are thousands of people coming
Istanbul.
here from other countries every day
that had to leave pigeons behind," says
The sport's universal appeal is proven member Derrick Esquerra, who came
by the diverse immigrants drawn to the to pigeon racing through his father, an
Seattle club.
immigrant from the Philippines.
"We're proud to say that we have more "They've got to know about the club."
different nationalities than any other
A visit to Dobre's home illustrates the
club we know of," says George Dobre, love many pigeon racers bring to the
an immigrant from Romania who is
sport.
8
up a significant portion of his suburban
backyard and is stocked with fancy organic-pigeon feed. (No bread crusts
here!)
the ability to find their way home from
many hundreds of miles away.
"The babies. They fly up on the roof of
the house ... and they spend about a
half-hour up there looking around,"
says Dobre, who started flying pigeons
as a kid in a little town near Bucharest,
Romania.
"And then that's their house for life."
Dobre speaks freely of how much he
misses Romania. Watching him coo
over his birds, it dawns on me how this
sport, based on the pigeons' instinctual
orientation toward home, is perfect for
immigrants hoping to stay connected to
their native countries.
Reprinted from the Bellingham Herald: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/12/31/2818840/whatcom-middle-schoolernamed.html
Whatcom middle schooler named pigeon racing ambassador
By MICHELLE NOLAN — FOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
Three years after Dylan Patera first
learned to love pigeons when he
found and cared for a lost one, the
Bellingham 11-year-old recently
won the American Pigeon Racing
Union's youth essay contest.Fittingly enough, the Whatcom
Middle School sixth-grader titled
his essay "Winning." He won a
state-of-the-art electronic pigeon
race timing system and earned the
title of national youth ambassador
for the pigeon racing organization.The son of Kate Patera, Dylan
has done his share of winning with
show birds at the Northwest Washington Fair, earning numerous blue
ribbons, including a best-of-show
award.Question: Dylan, how did
finding a pigeon stir your love for
the birds?Dylan: I was 8 years old,
in third grade, when I found a lost
bird just sitting on some dirt, seeming very tired, while I was heading
into the doctor's office. We later
learned Pidgie (that's what he
named the female bird) had flown
400 miles. She was owned by a Canadian man, who actually gave
Pidgie to us and told us about the
racing union.Kate: I thought it was
a lost pet. I remember when a similar thing happened to me when I
was a child, but the pigeon flew
away and I never saw it again after
two weeks. That was a moving experience for me.Dylan: We still
have Pidgie. We don't ever want to
race her, because we don't ever
want to lose her. She's so sweet.Q:
What's been your main way of
learning about pigeons?Dylan:
Through two 4-H clubs: The Thunderbirds, mentored by Evelyn and
Jerry Guilmette, and my
mom's club, Valhalla.Q: Do
you prefer showing pigeons
or racing them?Dylan: I love
to show them, and there's
hardly any risk of losing
them.I've been in a couple of
national races, and I do four
to eight local races each year.
But there's always the risk of
losing pigeons. I hate it when
I lose one. You get to know
them.Q: How much help
have you had along the way?
Dylan: I've had really great
help from people all over the
country, along with my 4-H
clubs. Local supporters are
people like Matt Aamot,
owner of Hannegan Farm &
Home; Abid Mahmood;
Mike Toner; the Strand fami- Dylan Patera, 11, of Bellingham, releases a homing pigeon in the
front yard of his home on Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 in Bellingham.
ly (Michael, Vicki and
Patera, who won a youth essay contest for National American RacThomas); and Bekins Mov- ing Pigeon Union, shows and races pigeons. Some pigeons have
known to live up to 20 or 30 years and can fly 300 to 600 miles
ing.Q: What else do you do? been
at speeds of 60 miles per hour to return home, Dylan's mom Kate
Dylan: I keep a record book Patera said.
DAVID RZEGOCKI — THE BELLINGHAM HERALD
and health records of our
flock. I make public presentations daily so my birds stay healthy and
clean. I also give them nutrients in
for younger kids at the library. I
participate in a "fit and show" com- their food. ... I give them baths. ... I
petitive event at the fair. I had a pi- train them so they stay fit and are
geon booth at the "Wings Over Wa- able to fly back fast and furiously. I
ter" bird festival in Blaine. Now, as tame them so when I go to handle
them, they don't fly away. I make
youth ambassador, I'll be writing
several articles for each issue of the sure my birds are safe because I
care about them."
racing union's newsletter, Pigeon
Tracks.Q: In your essay, how did
Read more here: http://
you describe your work with pigeons?Dylan: Here's part of what I www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/1
2/31/2818840/whatcom-middlewrote: "It's a good feeling when
you win because you have a feeling schoolernamed.html#storylink=cpy
of accomplishment, and you are
happy that your efforts to win did
not go to waste. ... I scrape my loft
9