2010年1月29-31日波兰鸽展

On Thursday January 28 our airplane arrived in Krakow after 2 hours flight. We immediately could see that Poland is pigeon-minded  as the market square  was full of pigeons having a lot of attention from the tourists. Some legends describe their influence on the history of the city. Aviation authorities complain about the problems they cause when planes are taking off or landing. Art lovers remark that pigeons are a real threat for the city’s historical patrimony.  However, I couldn’t resist taking some pictures of this enchanting view.
Krakow - pigeons
Because of the sharp cold, we soon decided to leave the former Polish capital to join our hotel in Sosnowiec nearby Katowice at 80 km from Krakow. During a drive of one hour on the motorway, we crossed magic snowy landscapes but direction signs to Auschwitz made us shiver as we thought of the thousands of  innocent victims of the devastating Nazi regime.
One hour later we arrived in Katowice, a city that many pigeon  fanciers will always keep  in mind. In January 2006 some compatriots were present at the pigeon show when the roof of the exhibition hall collapsed. 66 persons were found dead in the twisted wreckage of the building. One of them was the Belgian 41 years old  Valentin Mandica from Ouwegem (Zingem).
The new exhibition centre in Sosnowiec will be our “home base” for the next three days.

On Friday January 29, the president of the Polish Federation  Mr. Jan Kawaler – in presence of the president of th F.C.I. (Central Europe) Mr. Jose Teroso and several officials of the participating countries opened the 32nd Central Europe Show of Racing Pigeons.

The official ceremony finished with a moment full of emotion : thousands of people singing the national hymn.

Subsequently, there was a run on the stand with the laureates in the different categories.
The shown pigeons were real champions.

An overview of the winners :

Standard competition
Males
1-Istvan Takacs (Hungary);
2-Moretti Giambattista (Italy);-3-Tomasz i Teresa Skiba (Poland)-4-Jerzy Drzazga (Poland)-5-Mihaly Simon (Hungary).
Females
1-Leopold Pridko Dobra Voda (Slovakia);-2-Vendelin Sadlak Pov Buystr. (Slovakia);
3-Pal Nadas (Hungary);-4-J.K. Bartoszek (Poland);
5-Mieczyslaw Galica (Poland)

Ace-pigeon competition
Sport A-Speed
1-Hnilickovi M & D (Czech Republic)
2-Ladislav Skovran (Czech Republic);-
3-Pavel Rodr (Czech Republic);-
4-Marian Bembenekl (Poland):-
5-Janusz i Jan Lesniak (Poland).

Sport B-Mid Fond
1-Michal Wozniczka (Poland)
2-Janusz Olwert (Poland);-3-Iwona-Krzysztof Krupa (Poland);-4-Camplani Luigi (Italy);-5-Marek Skrbek.

Sport C–Fond
1-Zbigniew Klimek (Poland)
2-Wieslaw Niezabitowski (Poland);-3-Eugeniusz Cichon (Poland);-4-Ladislav Skovran (Czech Republic);-5-Tarta Nicolae (Romania)

Sport D–Allround.
1-Karol Paszek (Poland);
2-Andrej Chojak (Poland);-3-Zygfryd Musiol (Poland); 4-Frantisek Slovacek (Czech Republic)-5-Pal Nadas (Hungary).

Sport E-Marathon
1-Leszek Wawrzen (Poland)
2-Stanislaw Kawski i Mir-Woj (Poland);3-Dariusz Rychta (Poland);-4-Kodl-Frenzl (Czech Republic);-5-Peter Matalik Breovica (Slovakia).

Sport F-Youngsters
1-Mieczyslaw Glandys (Poland);
2-B. i.R Minkowski (Poland);3-Lukasz Strzalek (Poland);-4-Marek Bella Trstena (Slovakia);-5-Lubomir Zeman (Czech Republic).

Sport G-Yearlings
1-Pavel Rodr (Czech Republic)
2-Andrezej Chojak (Poland);
3-Stanivukovic Vukcevic (Serbia);-4-Zbigniew Cielielski (Poland);-5-Pavel Rodr (Czech Republic).

Sport H-Ground up pigeons
1-Gebor Toth (Hungary);
2-Ranisavljev Milenko (Serbia);-3-Olgierd Rusinek (Poland);-4-Zygmunt Szymanski (Poland); 5-Robak-Brynda (Poland).

Poland was at the top of the international table Central Europe, followed by the Czech Republic -Hungary -Slovakia-Siberia-Italy -Croatia and Romania.

There was a flood of visitors on Saturday 29 January. When we  arrived at the exhibition hall at 6.30 AM thousends of enthusiasts were patiently standing in the queue in the biting frosty cold (-18°C).The doors opened at 7 AM punctually and a stream of peple rushed into the exhibition hall.

Inside the overcrowded hall

The many exhibitors prepared for being confronted with a high interest and  had no time to get over all the commotion.
Some compatriots were also present at this international show :

Vanwinkel &Verbesselt

Van de Poel Yves

Sonia Van der Maelen

Rudy Brams

Taveirne Rigole

Lous Vangramberen and the Polish President Jan Kawaler

... and also ourselves (Veulemans Jos-Hok Ceulemans).

The Belgian pigeon products trade were also present : Herbots products, Beyers.

On the stand of my townsman Francis Nolmans (Bricon), I was pleased to meet a young pigeon fancier Robert Lech. Keep this name in mind with reference to the next Olympiad in Poznan.

Lech Robert-his wife and Francis Nolmans

We’ll certainly come back more intensively to this phenomenon as pigeon sport is no longer a Belgian privilege.

When we came back to Belgium, we felt tired but also satisfied. After a few days rest I have been thinking back to my trip in Poland and the only conclusion I can make is that pigeon sport is in the ascendant in Eastern Europe, where pigeon fanciers don’t belong to the ageing population. Each year hundreds of young enthusiasts are joining. A quite good thing for the worldwide pigeon sport. Pigeon racing is no longer a Belgian privilege. There are no frontiers. The more the merrier…

In a few months we will focus our attention on the 32nd Olympiad in Poznan.