Bertie was born in 1929 and at the age of 16 went to work in the shop which his mother ran in Comber ,a shop which he took over the running of in 1962 and which he ran for some years with his brother . The family home was a mixed farm by the shores of Strangford Lough at Ballydorn where Bertie specialised for many years in Pigs and through this farming connection was involved in the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society where he was a vice President and he had also been chairman of the Killinchy Young Farmers Club .
Bertie’s introduction to pigeons came at an early age through George Boyd who took Bertie to meet one of the top fancier of the day JMK McGugan and from whom he obtained 6 birds which were to be the start of Bertie’s great love of Pigeons and Pigeon racing and with his natural organising skills it was not long before he was involved in the administration side of the sport and back in 1966 along with Ronnie Johnston and others formed and got up and running the East Down Combine which he chaired for a time and this was followed by the formation of the East Down Combine 2 bird club of which Bertie was the chairman for 40 years , He regularly attended Combine and INFC events until failing health prevented him . Bertie will be sadly missed and the esteem in which he was held was borne out by the very large attendance at the Funeral .
On behalf all those who had the privilege of knowing Bertie Morrow I extend to his wife Bessie , sons David & Tom and the wider family circle sincere condolences at this sad time .
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East Down 2 Bird Club gets Ready for 2019
The EDC 2 Bird club AGM was held in Crossgar on Monday February 11th 2019 The chairman Joe McGreevy opened the meeting by requesting a minute’s silence for those members who had died during the previous year . The meeting continued with Apologies being received and accepted and the minutes of the previous Year’s AGM were then read and passed .The chairman thanked the Secretary Dorothy Smyth for her work during the racing season both in her role as Secretary and also Treasurer and he also thanked the assistant Secretary Sam Duke . Dorothy Smyth was also thanked for all her hard work in connection with the Dinner /Prize distribution which it was felt had been thoroughly enjoyed by all those present and has now become an event not to miss , Dorothy was also thanked for running the Gold Ring events so successfully . The prize winners were congratulated and it was hoped that 2019 would be another successful season and that the membership which in 2018 stood at 75 would continue to grow . The club Secretaries were also thanked for their co-operation each week .The Treasurer presented the accounts which showed the club was again in a very healthy financial state and this was again mainly due to excellent housekeeping and especially helped by the events run at the dinner
The next item was the election of office bearers for 2019 and It was the unanimous decision of those present that the existing office bearers be returned en bloc which for 2019 are
President Clifford Browne
Chairman Joe McGreevy
V/Chairman Colin Smyth
Secretary /Treasurer Mrs Dorothy Smyth
Asst Secretary Sam Duke
EDC Delegates D Smyth & A Lockhart
IHU Delegates C Smyth & A Lockhart
The very popular leagues will again be in operation for 2019 and Sponsorship has again been forth coming for the 2bird club and sincere thanks is extended to the following for their continued and very generous Sponsorship of the club . Sawyers Estate Agents , H Beattie & son , Robt. Kirkwood and Telford Bros.
All clubs within the Combine will receive membership forms for the 2019 season which secretary Dorothy Smyth will need returned by the date on the form to compile the various League tables etc . Membership fees remain at £10 for the full season or £5 for Young Birds only . Again for the 2019 season the club members will have the opportunity to take part in both an Old Bird Gold ring and a Young Bird gold ring event where Members will nominate 5 rings of their own at a cost of £10 for each event but nominations will only need to be placed with the 2 bird secretary on or before the dates on the form which for Old Birds is by the 2nd OB race of the season and for young birds on or before the date on the form in early August These events will be held in conjunction with ,for ,Old Birds , the 6th Old Bird club race of the season and for Young birds the 6th young bird club race .
In addition to the above competitions the club is continuing the £1 optional pool this season ,this means that members will still be able to enter each of their 2 birds each week in this pool at 1£ each and there will be 4 prizes each week with 1st 40% , 2nd 30% , 3rd 20% & 4th 10% . Each race will stand on it’s own with no monies being carried over .
There should be something there for everybody and it is hoped that the club will have another record membership this season .
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East Down Combine 2019 Breeder/Buyer
Will be running again in 2019 and the date for the sale is April 5th and the venue once again is the Temple Golf and Country Club and I’ll have more on this nearer the time but that is the date to have a young bird ready for and the prizes over the last few years have been really good .
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Clifford Browne