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Pigeon fanciers gather at fairgrounds
Dozens of pigeon fanciers brought their birds and family members from Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma to the Vernon County fairgrounds on Sunday, to attend the Homing Pigeon Expo and Family Fun Day, organized by Jerry Smith.
The event, which began in the morning and lasted most of the day, featured exhibits, an auction, train rides for the kids, a fish fry and a release or race of the feathered rockets back to their home dovecote or loft.
Missouri fanciers came from Webb City, Roscoe, Rockville, Humansville and Ballard, just to name a few, to talk pigeons, buy or sell birds, hope for a win in the judging contest and participate in the race. Jesse Ornelas of Nevada is just beginning to get involved in the sport. Ornelas said he had only been involved for a couple of months, but he's already "in the process of building a breeding loft" for his birds. He has recently lost some birds and wants to breed his own racers.
Nevada residents are used to seeing the pigeons on the Square; they are just average pigeons. But according to Jerry Black, pigeon fancier and president of the board of the World of Wings Pigeon Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., "There's no such thing as an average racing pigeon." The birds are athletes, he said.
Black said the event drew "a very good crowd" and that he was impressed with the turnout.
Food was plentiful, and over plates full of fried catfish, pulled pork, hamburgers, baked beans and slaw and other homemade foods, several of the fanciers shared some thoughts and facts on the sport of pigeon racing.
Jim Ruffini of Belton, Mo., Steve Albere of Louisburg, Kan. and Fred Muller of Paola, Kan., have a combined pigeon racing background of more than 90 years and between them have about 500 birds in their lofts.
Ruffini has been racing the birds since he was a boy. Even after 65 years of having pigeons, he said he just enjoys raising them and being able to race them. Ruffini has always been amazed at the distances the birds can travel. Some races are as long as 600 miles, but Ruffini said, "You race them as far as you think you can get them back in a day."
There are many factors that play into a bird's ability to make it back to the loft in a day. Weather is one of them and so is the birds' susceptibility to predators like hawks; but their highly developed senses help them overcome some weather conditions and avoid the predators. Albere has about 200 racers and said, "Their smeller is like a dog's and their eyes are like an eagle's."
Muller is relatively new to the sport. -- he's only been racing the birds for about six or seven years and has about 100 birds in his loft. Muller said that the average racing hen weighs about 14 ounces and the cocks will tip the scales at an even pound. They are more streamlined than the pigeons on the Nevada Square.
That's because they are actually a different breed of pigeon. The racing birds are what's known as a Belgian Racing Homer. Worldwide, "If you're racing a pigeon, that's what you're racing," said Black, according to Black.
A big part of the weekend activities was raising money to get a new time clock. That's how the winners of each race are determined. A band on the birds' legs is electronically registered by the clock when the bird reaches its loft. Even though the birds can easily fly 40 mph and sometimes go as fast as 70 mph, time is measured by yards per minute and not by miles per hour.
Smith is trying to get local youth involved in racing pigeons. "I'm going to get these kids flying," he said.
The Sport Development Manager for the American Racing Pigeon Union -- the nation's largest organization devoted to the sport of pigeon racing -- Deone Roberts, said that pigeon racing is "a great hands-on learning experience" for kids. She praised Smith's efforts and said the group has "700 junior members because of people like Jerry." According to Roberts, the sport is growing.
"We continue to grow every year," she said. "We get about 100 new members each month," roughly the equivalent of "a 2 to 3 percent gain per year," Roberts said.
Another reason for the expo was to provide racers with the opportunity to network. Racer Al Hogan of Miami, Okla., was there to promote a "one loft race."
He wanted to let fellow enthusiasts know that his race will be held on Labor Day weekend and birds will be released in Pratt, Kan. Only four to five birds may be entered in any race and Hogan said there will be first prize of $800.
In a dramatic burst of flight, dozens of the racers were released at one time from a trailer and Smith said that they would be returning "to lofts in Kansas City, Springfield, Joplin and many other places in the three states of Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. The auction for the clock fund featured a wide variety of items such as show boxes, feeders, carrying crates and dog food. Several pigeons also were sold. The event wrapped up before the dinner hour; most participants had a long drive home.
More information on racing pigeons is easy to find. A visit to the American Racing Pigeon Union's Web site at www.pigeon.org is a good start, and there is a lot of information available on other online sites or call the ARPU at (405) 848-5801.