Tom Smith's SPORTS TALK
Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 7:17 pm
SPORT TALK
“A Periodic Presentation of News & Views from Around the Racing Pigeon World”
by TOM SMITH Florida USA
THE National RENIER GURNAY FUTURITY 2009
Twelve o’clock, twelve ten, twelve fifteen, all eyes stared upward at the gray over-cast skies. “They should be here by one,” someone observed. “Maybe sooner,” another retorted. The Renier Gurnay Futurity birds were on their way home liberated at 8 am from Richmond, Indiana the 200 mile station, in partly cloudy skies with a light NW wind, after a one day holdover. The most unique one-loft-race in the world had begun once again….. It would be a good working race back to their loft in Wooster, Ohio. In 2008 there was a stiff wind “on their noses” for 270 miles, nearly eight hours on the wing….. but in 2009 it would be a light side wind for 200 miles……
The 2009 Gurnay Futurity, which is open to only pigeons of “Gurnay origin,” was originally planned for liberation at the 270 mile station on Friday, but heavy rainfall all the way to that station changed the plan. When the race committee studied the weather radar-map, they wisely decided to “hold over” and bring the birds back to the 200 station for liberation.
The next day everyone woke to a heavy gray cloud cover, but when the radar-map was consulted again, it could be seen that the back edge of the storm front was over the 200 mile station, moving away, and the cloud cover was breaking up. So an early liberation was possible…. At 8:00 am sharp the birds were liberated……facing a side-wind and heavy, dark cloud cover at home…..
All eyes were on the sky… Four hours on the wing… Twelve noon, twelve twenty, twelve thirty, four and a half hours on the wing…. Someone jumped to their feet… pointed north and yelled “Birds! Birds!” Twelve thirty-four…..Eighteen “pieces” made half a hook and dived to the board in unison…… Eighteen beauties, all looking as fit as a fiddle! What a sight. Everybody was standing now, watching intently; the rules said in case of a group landing at the same time, the first bird to enter the trap was to be the winner…… Two birds spooked; flew off losing a minute, but fifteen of the eighteen birds crossed the scanner in 11 seconds! The 1st was 09Gurnay648; a beautiful true to type Bronze Gurnay Cock bred by Ray Gajewski of Hammond, Indiana, speed 1230.252 ypm. “Congratulations Ray!” Then two birds of the Gurnay Club’s newsletter editor, David Meyers of Mc Lean Virginia, clocked taking 2nd & 3rd, followed by one of Carl Rensa’s in 4th, a beautiful Bronze hen bred by Hal Conn. Then Gary Travis 5th; Roy Gray of Florida, the 600 mile Gurnay flier in 6th; another nice Gary Travis pigeon in 7th; David Meyers 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th! Wow! Bruce Kuhlman 10th & 17th; David Hunter 15th; Jeff Krug 16th & 18th . All on the first drop!
The “team performance of the day” was had by “Captain” David Meyers. He entered twelve Gurnays, eleven of which went to the race…..and eight were in the first drop! So you could say “equal first!” David’s other three also made it home! Most of David’s Gurnays were bred from birds that flew in last year’s Renier Gurnay Futurity and he obtained after the race. A few years ago David’s interest in the Gurnay strain took him to Verviers, Belgium to see the actual home and loft of the late, great Renier Gurnay, which still stand in Verviers today! I too had been drawn to visit Renier Gurnay’s chateau and magnificent loft, many years ago. At that time the champion Henri Mornard, winner of 1st National 1st International Perpignan, and his wife lived on the second floor of the loft, which had been beautifully renovated into a home. In their living room hung a large old painting of a pair of pre WWII Gurnays….Two bronze beauties! Henri was in the midst of renovating the third floor of the loft to race from when I visited. In its day, this immense loft must have been one of the “seven wonders of the racing pigeon world!” Henri showed me a large framed photo of his foundation Gurnay cock! I was thrilled and amazed…. Henri also took me to see Renier Gurnay’s first loft in Verviers, where he flew successfully for years before moving to the chateau, and not far away Henri showed me the home and loft of the famous Lucien Bastin.
A few minutes after the first “18” clocked, Milt Cooper’s Bronze Wft Hen “650” came out of the sky like a rocket…..with a hawk on her tail!…. Five feet behind and gaining!! Jack Welling said he “never saw a bird run across the landing board so fast! She beat the hawk by two feet!” The hawk pulled up and headed for a tree top across the yard, chased by the spectators, yelling and waving their hands…… What a sight! Then the Blue Jays began screeching. The hawk eventually took off, leaving the racket behind….
The birds returned in excellent condition from this 1230 ypm “working race.” Although shortened to 200 mile, it was still a true test…..and that is what the “Gurnay men” want.
The Gurnay strain is a century old, one of the great old strains originating in Verviers, Belgium at the same time as Bricoux, Duray, Dardenne, Bastien, Barker, Grooter, Gits, etc. It is one of only a few of these original strains that still exist today, racing successfully against modern families. The Gurnays are a beautiful racing pigeon that combines racing ability with superior type, which sets them apart from ordinary racing pigeons. The “Bronze Gurnays” are particularly stunning. The Gurnay USA Club promotes the Gurnay strain. Most American Gurnays originate from the UK, although some were imported directly from Belgium. Many, many Gurnays were imported from “Gurnay Specialists” in GB, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Names like Fred Shaw, Perkins Bros, Eric Craven, O I Wood, Basil Beebe, Ted Hart, Eric Drayton, W R Black, William Mellor, Rowbottom, etc., are some of the names in the background of the American Gurnay pedigrees.
The National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009 winner 09GURNAY648 Bronze Cock
bred by RAY GAJEWSKI of Hammond, Indiana.
09Gurnay630 DCWftC winner of 2nd National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009
for David Meyers of Mclean, Virginia.
09Gurnay661 BBH winner of 9th National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009
for David Meyers of Virginia.
The final results for the 2009 National Renier Gurnay Futurity:
The “trainer” Shane Witt.
The 2009 Renier Gurnay Futurity was another successful race handled by Jack Welling, with the help of his thirteen year old grandson Shane Witt, who loves to “ride down the road with grandpa and toss the birds.” As Jack says, it is a lonely, but necessary task to take birds for tosses, just about every day, if you want success. When Shane or Jack’s wife Dianne accompany him, it is a joy…… They make a morning of it with breakfast and chitter-chatter all the way……
Ray Gajewski not only bred the National Renier Gurnay Futurity winner, but he also bred the winner of Best in Show at the Gurnay Futurity Show held on the Thursday before the race. All the race birds were basketed for a lawn show, but were moved to Jack’s barn because of windy, cool weather. Jack didn’t want the bird’s form to suffer….. At about 5 pm the Chief Judge Alan Dyar of California, and Assistant Judge Mike Anderson of Georgia, began methodically sorting through the beauties to select Best in Show and Best Opposite Sex. The gorgeous 09Gurnay647 DCH bred by Ray Gajewski was selected as Best in Show (she was 25th in the Futurity race); while Hal Conn’s handsome Bronze Cock 09Gurnay625 (which was 26th in the race) was selected as Best Opposite Sex. Two beauties! Then Mike Anderson, the Assistant Judge & resident eye-sign expert selected David Meyer’s 09Gurnay661 BBH (that was 9th in the race) as Best Eye-Sign in Show. She was also 2nd Best Hen in Show. What a nice blue! These birds exemplify the true Gurnay type…..
When the show was over and the birds were loaded into the race crates and Jack’s son John headed to the race station……
Jack has been a member of the Gurnay USA Club for over 20 years and says the Gurnays still have it; they just have to be raced hard and selected properly, according to performance and type…..Renier Gurnay himself would be proud of the birds that competed in the 2009 Gurnay Futurity…. Each bird entered was accompanied by a pedigree, as the rules state, proving its Gurnay origin, as this race is limited to only pure Gurnay strain pigeons.
Best Opposite Sex & Best Cock in Show Hal Conn’s 09Gurnay 625 BrzC (left),
a typical bold headed bronze Gurnay, and Best in Show & Best Hen in Show (right)
Ray Gajewski’s 09Gurnay647 DChWftH, a beautiful “racing type” Gurnay.
09Gurnay632 DCWftC winner of 8th National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009.
BEST IN SHOW 09Gurnay647 DCWftH bred by Ray Gajewski of Hammond, Indiana.
21st National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009 bred by Alan Dyar of California,
09Gurnay601 SilPdH.
09Gurnay619 BrzPdWftH 23rd National Renier Gurnay Futurity bred by Gurnay
USA Club president Bruce Kuhlman of Prosser, Washington.
09Gurnay666 BrzWftC 20th National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009 bred by
Roy Gray of Inverness, Florida; bred down from Roy’s famous “600 mile winning Gurnay cock.”
“De 600 Cock” Roy Gray’s famous 1st place winner at 600 miles, now owned by Alan Dyar in California.
This year’s big winner, Ray Gajewski, started with racing pigeons back in 1962. His original “mentor” was the late Gus Bereolos, Just Rite Loft, well known for his successful family of Hermans (B). Gus started Ray off with many good birds and became Ray’s close friend. When Ray lost his father, Gus became his “second dad.” Ray learned all the basics of racing pigeon management from Gus. It was a sad day when he passed on….
Ray began racing with the Hammond Club (Indiana) in 1966. Around that time he met two great fliers who were to greatly impact his racing pigeon life: The well known importer and flier Bob King of Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, USA and the very successful American Frank Mettllic of Mamor Loft. Ray obtained the best Georges & Victor Fabry (B) bloodlines, such as Atlas, Goliath, Mouse, Barnum, Victo, Hercules, and even the famous Mouchette. He liked a “good looking racer” and these fit the bill. That was, until he saw the Parkers and Griffiths Bob King imported from England; they were really “beautiful.” Upon seeing them,
14th National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009 DChWftC 09Gurnay662 bred by David Meyers of Virginia.
Ray immediately bought some for his loft. During the 1960’s he read several articles and saw many photos of the Gurnays. They were also beautiful and could race, so he obtained some from Tom Nettis of New Jersey, and the Smith Gurnay Stud of Long Island, New York. “SGS” imported many Gurnays from successful Gurnay fliers in GB, Scotland, and Ireland, plus domestics. “SGS” also published many article in various magazines about successful “Gurnay Specialists,” accompanied by photos of their outstanding Gurnay pigeons, which is what Ray had read. Ray crossed the Gurnays on the Parkers and Griffiths with great success, and became a top “racing showman.”
Ray had to quit the sport for awhile, but the birds were never far from his mind. So in 2002 he returned. He tried some of the new families but was “not happy with them at all.” Ray saw an article on the Gurnay Futurity, liked the “type” the Gurnays exhibited, as he did forty years earlier, and decided to get some. He contacted the Gurnay Club treasurer Hal Conn, who was a successful flier and whose bloodlines were successful in many Gurnay lofts. He obtained four pairs of Gurnays from him for his new beginning. Then he obtained some Gurnays from the “west coast Gurnay specialist” Alan Dyar in California, and from the “Gurnay fountainhead” Dr K Copper Beech Loft in New Jersey, which completed his foundation stock. These bloodlines are responsible for his two futurity winners.
Today Ray has 10 stock pairs of Gurnays, a couple pairs of the old Robert Sion (FR) pigeons, and he has some beautiful pure blacks that he is working on in a genetic/color project.
In October 2009 Ray ventured to the National Young Bird Show in Louisville, Kentuchy. He entered 2 Gurnays: One was the DCWftH 09Gurnay647, that later won Best in Show at the Gurnay Show, and the other one was a RSplC. “647” won 1st in Class, then went on to win Best Young Hen of the Young Bird National!, while the RSplC won 1st in Class and 3rd Best Young Cock in the National YB Show.
Ray flies old birds natural, to the nest, but plans on trying widowhood. He flies ybs to the perch in a sort of separated sex system.
Ray doesn’t like to give the birds a lot of medications (chemicals). He likes using natural health aids like garlic, vinegar, brewers yeast, and wheat germ oil. A properly ventilated loft; fresh, sound feed; clean water fountains and feeders; and fresh water are all important for success. Ray says the Gurnays are a healthy, robust family which seems to thrive the natural way, and that’s the type stock you need……
The members that attended the Futurity/One Loft Race & Show had an itinerary well planned by Jack Welling. It included meals a delicious Amish Restaurant; sight seeing around the Amish countryside; a visit to one of America’s largest retail outlets of non-electric household goods; a hugh horse auction; natural ice cream made by using horse powered ice cream maker; a visit to one of the largest cheese making outlets in Ohio where they sampled many of the over 200 types of cheeses for sale!; a visit to the “tourist town” Berlin, Ohio; and partaking in a delicious meal at one of Wooster, Ohio’s finest restaurants and enjoying several desserts “they couldn’t even pronounce the names of! Then on race day the group enjoyed a delicious barbecue at Jack’s……. What an enjoyable weekend they had, but all too soon it was time to head home……
Now the 2010 futurity bands are on sale for the 19th annual National Renier Gurnay Futurity to be held in Prosser, Washington, USA under the management of the 2010 Gurnay USA president Bruce Kuhlman. The race moves from the Mid West USA to the North West USA. The race course is a new one for the Gurnay Club, “high dessert” all the way from the 300 mile station in Klamath Falls, Oregon to Prosser, Washington. Will the Gurnays conquer the course? Or will the course conquer the Gurnays? The first weekend in October we will find out……….and you will read about it here…..
Good Flying, Tom Smith
12th National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009 bred by David Meyers of Virginia, 09Gurnay633 BrzWftPdH.
First drop!
On the board…..
The Futurity loft in Ohio, USA.
Jack Welling the Renier Gurnay Futurity manager, in front of the Futurity loft.
Mike Anderson judging eyesign. Note training truck in background. 2009
Alan Dyar judging the Gurnay Show 2009
THE END……………………………………………………
What a lovely looking and handling Gurnay!
for David Meyers of Virginia.
“A Periodic Presentation of News & Views from Around the Racing Pigeon World”
by TOM SMITH Florida USA
THE National RENIER GURNAY FUTURITY 2009
Twelve o’clock, twelve ten, twelve fifteen, all eyes stared upward at the gray over-cast skies. “They should be here by one,” someone observed. “Maybe sooner,” another retorted. The Renier Gurnay Futurity birds were on their way home liberated at 8 am from Richmond, Indiana the 200 mile station, in partly cloudy skies with a light NW wind, after a one day holdover. The most unique one-loft-race in the world had begun once again….. It would be a good working race back to their loft in Wooster, Ohio. In 2008 there was a stiff wind “on their noses” for 270 miles, nearly eight hours on the wing….. but in 2009 it would be a light side wind for 200 miles……
The 2009 Gurnay Futurity, which is open to only pigeons of “Gurnay origin,” was originally planned for liberation at the 270 mile station on Friday, but heavy rainfall all the way to that station changed the plan. When the race committee studied the weather radar-map, they wisely decided to “hold over” and bring the birds back to the 200 station for liberation.
The next day everyone woke to a heavy gray cloud cover, but when the radar-map was consulted again, it could be seen that the back edge of the storm front was over the 200 mile station, moving away, and the cloud cover was breaking up. So an early liberation was possible…. At 8:00 am sharp the birds were liberated……facing a side-wind and heavy, dark cloud cover at home…..
All eyes were on the sky… Four hours on the wing… Twelve noon, twelve twenty, twelve thirty, four and a half hours on the wing…. Someone jumped to their feet… pointed north and yelled “Birds! Birds!” Twelve thirty-four…..Eighteen “pieces” made half a hook and dived to the board in unison…… Eighteen beauties, all looking as fit as a fiddle! What a sight. Everybody was standing now, watching intently; the rules said in case of a group landing at the same time, the first bird to enter the trap was to be the winner…… Two birds spooked; flew off losing a minute, but fifteen of the eighteen birds crossed the scanner in 11 seconds! The 1st was 09Gurnay648; a beautiful true to type Bronze Gurnay Cock bred by Ray Gajewski of Hammond, Indiana, speed 1230.252 ypm. “Congratulations Ray!” Then two birds of the Gurnay Club’s newsletter editor, David Meyers of Mc Lean Virginia, clocked taking 2nd & 3rd, followed by one of Carl Rensa’s in 4th, a beautiful Bronze hen bred by Hal Conn. Then Gary Travis 5th; Roy Gray of Florida, the 600 mile Gurnay flier in 6th; another nice Gary Travis pigeon in 7th; David Meyers 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th! Wow! Bruce Kuhlman 10th & 17th; David Hunter 15th; Jeff Krug 16th & 18th . All on the first drop!
The “team performance of the day” was had by “Captain” David Meyers. He entered twelve Gurnays, eleven of which went to the race…..and eight were in the first drop! So you could say “equal first!” David’s other three also made it home! Most of David’s Gurnays were bred from birds that flew in last year’s Renier Gurnay Futurity and he obtained after the race. A few years ago David’s interest in the Gurnay strain took him to Verviers, Belgium to see the actual home and loft of the late, great Renier Gurnay, which still stand in Verviers today! I too had been drawn to visit Renier Gurnay’s chateau and magnificent loft, many years ago. At that time the champion Henri Mornard, winner of 1st National 1st International Perpignan, and his wife lived on the second floor of the loft, which had been beautifully renovated into a home. In their living room hung a large old painting of a pair of pre WWII Gurnays….Two bronze beauties! Henri was in the midst of renovating the third floor of the loft to race from when I visited. In its day, this immense loft must have been one of the “seven wonders of the racing pigeon world!” Henri showed me a large framed photo of his foundation Gurnay cock! I was thrilled and amazed…. Henri also took me to see Renier Gurnay’s first loft in Verviers, where he flew successfully for years before moving to the chateau, and not far away Henri showed me the home and loft of the famous Lucien Bastin.
A few minutes after the first “18” clocked, Milt Cooper’s Bronze Wft Hen “650” came out of the sky like a rocket…..with a hawk on her tail!…. Five feet behind and gaining!! Jack Welling said he “never saw a bird run across the landing board so fast! She beat the hawk by two feet!” The hawk pulled up and headed for a tree top across the yard, chased by the spectators, yelling and waving their hands…… What a sight! Then the Blue Jays began screeching. The hawk eventually took off, leaving the racket behind….
The birds returned in excellent condition from this 1230 ypm “working race.” Although shortened to 200 mile, it was still a true test…..and that is what the “Gurnay men” want.
The Gurnay strain is a century old, one of the great old strains originating in Verviers, Belgium at the same time as Bricoux, Duray, Dardenne, Bastien, Barker, Grooter, Gits, etc. It is one of only a few of these original strains that still exist today, racing successfully against modern families. The Gurnays are a beautiful racing pigeon that combines racing ability with superior type, which sets them apart from ordinary racing pigeons. The “Bronze Gurnays” are particularly stunning. The Gurnay USA Club promotes the Gurnay strain. Most American Gurnays originate from the UK, although some were imported directly from Belgium. Many, many Gurnays were imported from “Gurnay Specialists” in GB, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Names like Fred Shaw, Perkins Bros, Eric Craven, O I Wood, Basil Beebe, Ted Hart, Eric Drayton, W R Black, William Mellor, Rowbottom, etc., are some of the names in the background of the American Gurnay pedigrees.
The National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009 winner 09GURNAY648 Bronze Cock
bred by RAY GAJEWSKI of Hammond, Indiana.
09Gurnay630 DCWftC winner of 2nd National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009
for David Meyers of Mclean, Virginia.
09Gurnay661 BBH winner of 9th National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009
for David Meyers of Virginia.
The final results for the 2009 National Renier Gurnay Futurity:
The “trainer” Shane Witt.
The 2009 Renier Gurnay Futurity was another successful race handled by Jack Welling, with the help of his thirteen year old grandson Shane Witt, who loves to “ride down the road with grandpa and toss the birds.” As Jack says, it is a lonely, but necessary task to take birds for tosses, just about every day, if you want success. When Shane or Jack’s wife Dianne accompany him, it is a joy…… They make a morning of it with breakfast and chitter-chatter all the way……
Ray Gajewski not only bred the National Renier Gurnay Futurity winner, but he also bred the winner of Best in Show at the Gurnay Futurity Show held on the Thursday before the race. All the race birds were basketed for a lawn show, but were moved to Jack’s barn because of windy, cool weather. Jack didn’t want the bird’s form to suffer….. At about 5 pm the Chief Judge Alan Dyar of California, and Assistant Judge Mike Anderson of Georgia, began methodically sorting through the beauties to select Best in Show and Best Opposite Sex. The gorgeous 09Gurnay647 DCH bred by Ray Gajewski was selected as Best in Show (she was 25th in the Futurity race); while Hal Conn’s handsome Bronze Cock 09Gurnay625 (which was 26th in the race) was selected as Best Opposite Sex. Two beauties! Then Mike Anderson, the Assistant Judge & resident eye-sign expert selected David Meyer’s 09Gurnay661 BBH (that was 9th in the race) as Best Eye-Sign in Show. She was also 2nd Best Hen in Show. What a nice blue! These birds exemplify the true Gurnay type…..
When the show was over and the birds were loaded into the race crates and Jack’s son John headed to the race station……
Jack has been a member of the Gurnay USA Club for over 20 years and says the Gurnays still have it; they just have to be raced hard and selected properly, according to performance and type…..Renier Gurnay himself would be proud of the birds that competed in the 2009 Gurnay Futurity…. Each bird entered was accompanied by a pedigree, as the rules state, proving its Gurnay origin, as this race is limited to only pure Gurnay strain pigeons.
Best Opposite Sex & Best Cock in Show Hal Conn’s 09Gurnay 625 BrzC (left),
a typical bold headed bronze Gurnay, and Best in Show & Best Hen in Show (right)
Ray Gajewski’s 09Gurnay647 DChWftH, a beautiful “racing type” Gurnay.
09Gurnay632 DCWftC winner of 8th National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009.
BEST IN SHOW 09Gurnay647 DCWftH bred by Ray Gajewski of Hammond, Indiana.
21st National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009 bred by Alan Dyar of California,
09Gurnay601 SilPdH.
09Gurnay619 BrzPdWftH 23rd National Renier Gurnay Futurity bred by Gurnay
USA Club president Bruce Kuhlman of Prosser, Washington.
09Gurnay666 BrzWftC 20th National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009 bred by
Roy Gray of Inverness, Florida; bred down from Roy’s famous “600 mile winning Gurnay cock.”
“De 600 Cock” Roy Gray’s famous 1st place winner at 600 miles, now owned by Alan Dyar in California.
This year’s big winner, Ray Gajewski, started with racing pigeons back in 1962. His original “mentor” was the late Gus Bereolos, Just Rite Loft, well known for his successful family of Hermans (B). Gus started Ray off with many good birds and became Ray’s close friend. When Ray lost his father, Gus became his “second dad.” Ray learned all the basics of racing pigeon management from Gus. It was a sad day when he passed on….
Ray began racing with the Hammond Club (Indiana) in 1966. Around that time he met two great fliers who were to greatly impact his racing pigeon life: The well known importer and flier Bob King of Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, USA and the very successful American Frank Mettllic of Mamor Loft. Ray obtained the best Georges & Victor Fabry (B) bloodlines, such as Atlas, Goliath, Mouse, Barnum, Victo, Hercules, and even the famous Mouchette. He liked a “good looking racer” and these fit the bill. That was, until he saw the Parkers and Griffiths Bob King imported from England; they were really “beautiful.” Upon seeing them,
14th National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009 DChWftC 09Gurnay662 bred by David Meyers of Virginia.
Ray immediately bought some for his loft. During the 1960’s he read several articles and saw many photos of the Gurnays. They were also beautiful and could race, so he obtained some from Tom Nettis of New Jersey, and the Smith Gurnay Stud of Long Island, New York. “SGS” imported many Gurnays from successful Gurnay fliers in GB, Scotland, and Ireland, plus domestics. “SGS” also published many article in various magazines about successful “Gurnay Specialists,” accompanied by photos of their outstanding Gurnay pigeons, which is what Ray had read. Ray crossed the Gurnays on the Parkers and Griffiths with great success, and became a top “racing showman.”
Ray had to quit the sport for awhile, but the birds were never far from his mind. So in 2002 he returned. He tried some of the new families but was “not happy with them at all.” Ray saw an article on the Gurnay Futurity, liked the “type” the Gurnays exhibited, as he did forty years earlier, and decided to get some. He contacted the Gurnay Club treasurer Hal Conn, who was a successful flier and whose bloodlines were successful in many Gurnay lofts. He obtained four pairs of Gurnays from him for his new beginning. Then he obtained some Gurnays from the “west coast Gurnay specialist” Alan Dyar in California, and from the “Gurnay fountainhead” Dr K Copper Beech Loft in New Jersey, which completed his foundation stock. These bloodlines are responsible for his two futurity winners.
Today Ray has 10 stock pairs of Gurnays, a couple pairs of the old Robert Sion (FR) pigeons, and he has some beautiful pure blacks that he is working on in a genetic/color project.
In October 2009 Ray ventured to the National Young Bird Show in Louisville, Kentuchy. He entered 2 Gurnays: One was the DCWftH 09Gurnay647, that later won Best in Show at the Gurnay Show, and the other one was a RSplC. “647” won 1st in Class, then went on to win Best Young Hen of the Young Bird National!, while the RSplC won 1st in Class and 3rd Best Young Cock in the National YB Show.
Ray flies old birds natural, to the nest, but plans on trying widowhood. He flies ybs to the perch in a sort of separated sex system.
Ray doesn’t like to give the birds a lot of medications (chemicals). He likes using natural health aids like garlic, vinegar, brewers yeast, and wheat germ oil. A properly ventilated loft; fresh, sound feed; clean water fountains and feeders; and fresh water are all important for success. Ray says the Gurnays are a healthy, robust family which seems to thrive the natural way, and that’s the type stock you need……
The members that attended the Futurity/One Loft Race & Show had an itinerary well planned by Jack Welling. It included meals a delicious Amish Restaurant; sight seeing around the Amish countryside; a visit to one of America’s largest retail outlets of non-electric household goods; a hugh horse auction; natural ice cream made by using horse powered ice cream maker; a visit to one of the largest cheese making outlets in Ohio where they sampled many of the over 200 types of cheeses for sale!; a visit to the “tourist town” Berlin, Ohio; and partaking in a delicious meal at one of Wooster, Ohio’s finest restaurants and enjoying several desserts “they couldn’t even pronounce the names of! Then on race day the group enjoyed a delicious barbecue at Jack’s……. What an enjoyable weekend they had, but all too soon it was time to head home……
Now the 2010 futurity bands are on sale for the 19th annual National Renier Gurnay Futurity to be held in Prosser, Washington, USA under the management of the 2010 Gurnay USA president Bruce Kuhlman. The race moves from the Mid West USA to the North West USA. The race course is a new one for the Gurnay Club, “high dessert” all the way from the 300 mile station in Klamath Falls, Oregon to Prosser, Washington. Will the Gurnays conquer the course? Or will the course conquer the Gurnays? The first weekend in October we will find out……….and you will read about it here…..
Good Flying, Tom Smith
12th National Renier Gurnay Futurity 2009 bred by David Meyers of Virginia, 09Gurnay633 BrzWftPdH.
First drop!
On the board…..
The Futurity loft in Ohio, USA.
Jack Welling the Renier Gurnay Futurity manager, in front of the Futurity loft.
Mike Anderson judging eyesign. Note training truck in background. 2009
Alan Dyar judging the Gurnay Show 2009
THE END……………………………………………………
What a lovely looking and handling Gurnay!
for David Meyers of Virginia.