The Vancouver Poultry & Fancy Pigeon Association is
dedicated to the promotion and facilitation of the breeding
and exhibition of fancy pigeons in the Pacific
Northwest.
Classified ads are provided free of charge to our
members. If you are a current member of our club and would
like to advertise here, please contact our webmaster,
to have your sale details included
here.
Our
annual winter show is fast approaching, as it is one week earlier this
year: Nov. 7-9, 2008. I have mailed out the show catalogue and entry forms
today to all current club members and last years exhibitors. If you have
not received your catalogue by the end of this week, or if you are not
member and have not shown with us, you can download the entry form and
catalogue from our web site. Deadline for mailing the entry forms is
Monday, Oct. 27, 2008.
Compass Cladding is once again sponsoring
our Exhibitors Reception on the Friday evening of the show. I would
encourage everyone to attend this event, asit is an enjoyable way to start
the show. Be sure to thank Ken Chatwin for his continued support in
sponsoring the Exhibitors Reception.
For our local members, just a
reminder to attend our next meeting, set for this Sunday, as we prepare
the final stages for our show. Details about the meeting date and time are
listed at the end of this newsletter.
Regards,
Keith
Biggs
The State of the Fancy
by David Williamson
I recently read an article on pigeons posted on the internet
from the Staten Island Advance, a newspaper serving that New York
City borough . The article dealt with the decline of the sport of
keeping pigeons and the loss of the "iconic rooftop and backyard
coops" in New York City. A familiar story for sure, but the author
of the article really hit home with his comments like "the sport is
dying off at the same pace as the old- timers who still practice
it". We are all aware that the culture clash with the short
attention span video game playing current urban generation is not
providing the pigeon fanciers of the future, so maybe the best thing
we "old -timers" can do is to participate in and enjoy the pigeon
fancy while we can. The most recent meeting of the VP & FPA was
a good example of pigeon fanciers doing exactly that. We had a dozen
club members attend the September 14 meeting, including many of our
long standing members. People took the time to come from Victoria,
Chilliwack, Maple Ridge, Vancouver, Langley and Aldergrove and
participated in a very enjoyable exchange of experiences, opinions
and ideas and we even got some club business accomplished. Hopefully
this level of participation will continue into the show season which
starts next month. In the Pacific Northwest we are fortunate in
having several good shows within a few hours drive from the Lower
Mainland. It is well worth the effort to get together with other
local fanciers and either participate in or visit these shows. I
have listed 5 shows below which I have either personally attended or
come well recommended. Hope to see you there. The VP&FPA website
www.vancouverfancypigeon.ca has a more comprehensive event calendar
if you are interested in attending shows outside our immediate area.
October 4-5 Northwest International Pigeon Show hosted by
our good friends in the Snohomish Pigeon Fanciers Club at the
National Guard Armoury in Snohomish Wa. Contact Pat Vander pool
(425) 299-6572 or Midstate1758@aol.com
October 25-26 Sage
& Sandbrush Show hosted by the Columbia Basin Pigeon and Dove
Club at the Benton-Franklin County Fairgrounds in Kennewick Wa. It's
a fairly long drive but I understand this is a very competitive
show. Contact Sara Whitby (509) 528-4123 or wwingsaviary@yahoo.com
November 8 Oregon Classic Fall Show hosted by the Central
Pacific Pigeon Club at the Linn County Fairgrounds & Expo Centre
(Santiam Building) in Albany Or. This has all the makings of good
event with no less than 18 specialty breed shows. Contact Larry
Flowers (541) 461- 5026.
November 7-9 VP & FPA Winter
Show. Our club's annual event at the Abbotsford Fairgrounds (Ag-Rec
Building) in Abbotsford. B.C. A good local show without the border
hassle, come out , support your club and meet other club members.
Show catalogues will be mailed out in early October. Contact Keith
Biggs (604) 530-5175
November 29 & 30 Puyallup Winter
Classic hosted by the Puget Sound Pigeon Club at the Puyallup
Fairgrounds in Puyallup Wa. Includes the National Dove Show this
year. Contact Gene Nolan (253) 472-5108 or gekneede@aol.com
(pigeons) or Gayle Nelson (253) 531-6358
(doves)
EVENTS
Pigeon Tidbits
Member "pigeon-paraphernalia-collector" Dick Kastelein did
some traveling this summer, found and passes on the following:
Small ad in a rural Classifies Ad column in a Montana paper
reads - Competitive pigeon racing 100-600 miles, local club willing
to help beginners
Column & photo in the "Surrey Now"
about an international photo contest for hemophiliacs, shows - the
winning photograph, depicting several pigeons in flight (just taking
off - about 5 ft. of the ground
Star Tribune newspaper of
St. Paul, Minnesota published an article about organized attempts to
scare pigeons away before the scheduled, Sep 1 - 3, Republican
National Convention. The strategy included - Angled plates at the
base of vertical I-beams to discourage roosting Solar-powered
electric strips to give a little jolt to discourage roosting when
the birds land on them Spikes and Slinky-like wire, again to
discourage roosting
St. Paul is also experimenting with
pigeon birth control by mixing the contraceptive "OvoControl-P",
with cracked corn and grain that has been scattered about. The
pellets do not harm the birds, but prevent eggs from hatching.
The Waterloo Region Record, of Ontario published several
articles about a "financial scheme", where a Waterloo-based Pigeon
King International company attracted at least $20 million from
investors, these investors were supplied with pairs of breeding
pigeons (at a price of about $400, per pair) promised that all
off-spring would be collected at their gate and paid $ 35 - $ 45
EACH
The principal of Pigeon King International (often
referred to as "Pigeon King") has since declared bankruptcy, while
the police "are still investigating". Several individuals had
invested their life-savings; largest single investor is a Hutterite
colony in Alberta that is owed $1.5 million. The Agriculture
Ministry estimates there could be 150 to 250 breeding farms in
Ontario and anywhere from 200,000 to 400,000 birds Investors are now
stuck with thousands of pigeons for which there appear no market; it
is estimated that so far about 30,000 of these pigeons have been
killed for that reason.
On a lighter note: in a Letter to
the Editor, following this investment-fiasco story (and also in
reply to another reader commenting on a over-abundance of rabbits in
her neighbourhood) Ll. M. of Waterloo writes: "I suggest we form a
new company that will sell a mating pair of rabbits for $500. We
will buy back the offspring for $50 each. We might consider calling
the new company "Bunny King".
September Minutes
Minutes of the meeting of the Vancouver Poultry & Fancy
Pigeon Association held Sunday, September 14, 2008 at Western
Hatchery 505 Hamm Road, Abbotsford, B.C.
President Ernie
Silveri called the meeting to order at 2:07 pm. There were 12
members present. Motion to accept the minutes as published moved by
Gary Owen and seconded by Mickey Compton.
The next meeting of the Vancouver Poultry & Fancy Pigeon
Association will be held at 2:00 pm on Sunday, October 12, 2008 at
Western Hatchery, 505 Hamm Road, Abbotsford, B.
C.
