『ノエネ』アライン＆ディルク・ファンデンドリースヘ − シントリーヴェンスエッセ（ベルギー）。
A unique season 15 first prizes.
Châteauroux (5 June) 1 from 295 old birds
Châteauroux (13 June) 1 from 538 old birds
1 from 851 yearlings
1 from 1581 yearlings Fond club Denderstreek
Limoges (4 July) 1 from 438 old birds
1 from 841 FCD
1 from 234 2 yearlings
1 from 54 2 yearlings FCD
Limoges (11 July) 1 from 578 yearlings
Soulliac (18 July) 1 from 324 old birds.
1 from 546 old birds FCD
Vierzon (31 July) 1 from 103 yearlings
1 from 218 yearlings FCD
Tulle (31 July) 1 from 251 old birds
1 from 495 old birds FCD.
No less than 15 pure first prizes.
Unbelievable absolute top performances from Vierzon to Tulle.
It was not a good start to the season… on the 15th of April the sympathetic and mischievous Alain passed away totally unexpected. The Saturday before there was a gathering of pigeon fanciers with Prof Paul Haelterman, close friend of José and Jo. The Walloon fancier Marcel and as last, but certainly not least, secretary Wilfried. That afternoon plans were made, the racing programme was gone over. Between a nibble and a drink they chatted merrily and there was a good sphere, just like all the Saturday gatherings.
Suddenly they stood there in the leugenstraat with an enormous miss and immense gap, father Alain was no longer with them. In the meantime the wildest tales arose, the next one stronger than the last, that they were to stop with the pigeon sport and at the end of the season everything would be sold or placed in an auction. But they hadn’t taken Christine and son Dirk into account!!!!
Christine cared for the pigeons tip top and son Dirk became the new captain of the team. It is now a very strong duo, the mother and son combination. Dirk inherited the know-how from father Alain, he has an indelible expert eye, doesn’t say a lot, but strong in deeds.
Mother Christine takes care of the pigeons punctually, cleaning the lofts, washing the drinking dishes, training the pigeons. It’s a lot of work.
When we take a close look at the results we can do nothing but conclude that it was a fantastic and phenomenal season.
We don’t want to suffocate the reader with figures, but one example was on the last Saturday of July, all the pigeons had been basketted in Moerbeke , by ‘Eerlijk duurt langst’ (to all outsiders, feel free to go and take a look there, the national chairman of the K.B.D.B., Mr Pierre De Rijst, baskets the pigeons himself or sits at the computer)
The combination Alain and Dirk Van Den Driessche basketted 5 pigeons for Tulle with the local result against 251 old birds 1, 5, 9 and 66. Or 80 % prize!
7 pigeons were basketted for the competition for yearlings from Vierzon with the result 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12 and 13 against 103 yearlings or 100% prize.
An old-Balegems pigeon fancier told me:’ Stopping with top performances is the ideal preparation for the following season”
2010 was a tough year emotionally for the Van Den Driessche family… But the pigeons have proved that the Van Den Driessche pigeon is ready for the next decade.
