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Friday, Sept 5th, 2008......we are still getting Empire Classic 350 birds back each day, check under the "RACE RESULTS" tab for the latest updates. Don't forget the deadline for nominating your birds for the MARATHON 420 is this Sunday (Sept 7th) at midnight. you can nominate your birds by email or telephone, your money can arrive later. We have 281 birds home, any of those 281 would be fine to send to the Marathon 420. Your bird does not have to score near the top in the Classic 350 to do well in the Marathon 420, in fact many birds needed the Classic 350 just to get tuned up for the Marathon 420. I see several people choosing their top bird at the Classic 350 and not nominating their birds that came later in the day or the next day, I guarantee, in many cases they are choosing the wrong bird for the Marathon. If you can afford it send them all. You will find the birds already nominated for the Marathon 420 high lighted in pink on the "RESERVATIONS" list. Also don't forget we have a $5000 prize (in addition to the Marathon prize money) for the bird with the best average speed at the Empire Classic 350 and Marathon 420. The prize money for the Marathon 420 is 1 prize for every 20 birds, there is no reason we shouldn't have 200 birds nominated for the Marathon 420 which will give us 1st....$8000, 2nd....$4000, 3rd.....$2000, 4th....$1500, 5th.....$1000, 6th....$750, 7th, 8th, 9th.....$500, 10th...$250. The Marathon 420 is clocking order only, no 1st drop system....................jim
MONDAY, Sept 1, 2008........I have posted the Classic 350 results to include the birds that returned today. Check under the "RACE RESULTS" tab. The birds that returned today and yesterday look super, they have bounced back very quickly. Any birds that return the first 3 or 4 days have lots of time to get ready for the MARATHON 420 (Sept 27th). You must nominate your candidates for the Marathon by this Sunday Sept 7th. I do not need your entry fee in my hands by Sunday but I do need your ring numbers of your Marathon entries. You can send your nominations by email or phone.................................jim
EMPIRE CLASSIC RACE DAY (AUG 31, 2008).......Our 3rd Annual Empire Classic 350 is now complete. We had super weather all weekend and the birds had a perfect day for racing. The day ended with 154 birds clocked on the day. The first drop was 5 birds, these 5 birds are considered equal first and all 5 birds are considered winners of the 2008 Empire Classic. Congratulations to the 5 owners of this years Empire Classic. They are HICKS & DEVRIES, GUIDO MADRUSAN, JOE SPLINTER, PHILIPPIANS-SILVO and CLAUDE ROTHGIESSER 1. We will update the race result tomorrow night and again on Tuesday night. You will find the race result under the "RACE RESULTS" tab. I hope the Empire Classic participants that could not attend were able to view the arriving birds on our web site through our video cameras. Don't forget to nominate your Empire Classic birds for the EMPIRE MARATHON 420. You have until Sept 7th to nominate your birds for the Marathon 420 which you can do by email and you have until Sept 14th to get your entry fee to us. .......................................................................................jim
EMPIRE CLASSIC RACE DAY......Loft auction payout......1ST $5147.50..........2ND $3088.50.........3RD $2059........GOOD LUCK.
EMPIRE CLASSIC 350
PRIZE PAYOUT:
1ST $50,000 plus weekend at Paradise Motel (Manatoulin)
2ND 15,000
3RD 7,500
4TH 5,000
5TH to 14TH $1,000
15TH to 33RD 500
$500 prizes will be added for additional activated birds.
Spot Prizes:
68TH Dishes (8 place setting) Donated by Mike & Betty Ann
Jarzab
87TH $50 gift cert. Donated by Salem Mills Feed Co (Rick &
Linda Broere)
96TH $50 gift cert. Donated by Salem Mills Feed Co (Rick &
Linda Broere)
102ND Digital Album Donated by Mike & Betty Ann Jarzab
123RD $50 gift cert. Donated by Salem Mills Feed Co (Rick &
Linda Broere)
134TH Tea Set Donated by Mike & Betty Jarzab
152ND $50 gift cert. Donated by Salem Mills Feed Co (Rick &
Linda Broere)
169TH Party Grill Donated by Mike & Betty Ann Jarzab.
****WINNERS MUST PAY SHIPPING COSTS****
EMPIRE CLASSIC 350 .....RACE DAY (Aug 31st, 2008).......THE BIRDS ARE RELEASED.......I will post again this morning with the prize payout for this year.
EMPIRE CLASSIC 350……Aug 31st, 2008
Birds released………………………. 7 : 15 am
**Sunny and clear throughout the race course**
Wind as the birds travel home:
MATHESON (release)...SW ( Headwind)..10 km
Englehart………………SW (Heaswind)…..6 km
New Liskeard…………..SW (Headwind)….5 km
Temagami…………WSW (Side headwind)..5 km
Mattawa……………WNW (Side tailwind)...7 km
Bancroft…………….NNW (Tailwind)……..7 km
EMPIRE FARM……SW (Headwind)……..15 km
GOOD LUCK
Thursday, Aug 28th, 2008......I have posted the final inventory under the "inventory" tab. This should be fairly close to accurate but there is still a possible of a few birds showing up for shipping that are not on this list. Some of you may have already noticed WE HAVE OUR CAMERAS WORKING, it has been a long, frustrating experience but they appear to be operating. I am really pleased that we have them working for the "out of town" supporters of the Empire Classic. After last year I vowed to make the Empire Classic a more exciting experience for the fanciers who could not attend in person. I thought the cameras were the perfect answer, it sure looked promising but we kept running into road blocks but here we are just in time for the Classic 350. I have the "Drive shed" camera turned off right now but it will be on for the shipping of the birds (Sat 30th from 1:30 to 5:30). Tomorrow I will clean the glass protector over the camera which should improve the quality further. The "out of towner's" should check my "Diary" Sunday morning (Aug 31st) for the release info and weather outlook along the course, I will also give an estimated arrival time so that you will know when to tune into my web site for the home viewing. So far the weather forecast looks perfect. The other item that I had hoped to accomplish for the "out of towners" was real time clocking on my web site, this also was very frustrating for me, I was told back in the spring "no problem" but the experts concluded last week that indeed it was a problem. it looks like now I will have to convince UNIKON to rewrite their "One Loft" clocking program to allow it to accommodate real time clocking on the web site. Looks like my project for next year. Back to our CLASSIC WEEKEND, when we started this venture we decided not to hand out a meal voucher for each entry and charge for guests, this is what most "One Lofts" do. We wanted everyone to feel comfortable bringing a family member or friend, this created a large additional expense especially with our catered Race day meal. We decided to hold a 50/50 draw to offset the additional expense. The first ticket drawn gets 1/2 the pot and we get the other half to help offset the additional meal costs. We also, with the help of our friends, had a table load of additional prizes for the tickets drawn after the first winner. Last year we had over 100 prizes to be drawn. Tickets are $5.00 each, remember we only get $2.50 so if you bring some guests please buy a few, there is a great chance to win some nice prizes as well as the cash. As long as we keep getting support for the 50/50 draw we will continue to encourage everyone to come out and have a great time. Anyone that has any items (does not have to be pigeon related) to donate to the Draw table bring them along, it would be greatly appreciated. Tune in to the "diary" tomorrow I will have some more news.......................jim
TUESDAY AUG 26TH, 2008......Listed below are the final standings of the CHAMPION BIRD over the four Official Training Races. Congratulations to the TRI COUNTY
syndicate winning the Champion Bird with their CU 08 TRI C 638. They are the winners of the UNIKON CLOCKING SYSTEM donated by UNIKON (Diester Electronics). Also congrats to Garry Monminie on placing four birds in the Top 20. I have posted an inventory tonight under the "inventory" tab, I will post the final inventory Thursday evening. The birds will only be loft flown from now until shipping. They look super, the health is excellent and they are loft flying great. We have done everything we planned to do with the road training. We use the same road training schedule every year, this year they were road trained the same as they were last year and the same as the year before last year. Our goal is to have your birds in the best possible health and road trained just enough that the good ones can make it home on a hard race but we do not want them trained so well that on an easy race we get 50 birds on the drop. It is obviously a guessing game because we do not know what kind of day we will get, so we picked a plan the first year and we have stuck with it since. Over a number of years we believe our training plan will prove to be about the right balance required for your birds. Another few reminders for the Classic weekend, bring your own lawn chairs and PLEASE no pets. If you are using a GPS to find us do not type in Brighton for the city, you must instead type in CRAMAHE for the city and then our street (184 Hunt Rd). Once again this year campers, RVs, buses, tents etc are welcome, we have lots of space for you. No electrical hookups but there are portable toilets on site. Keep checking this Diary for up to date news and reminders
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OVERALL 78 |
CHAMPION BIRD
TRI COUNTY |
TOP 20
CU 08 TRI C 638 |
1ST RACE 32 |
CU 08 TRI C 638 |
2ND RACE 10 |
CU 08 TRI C 638 |
3RD RACE 1 |
CU 08 TRI C 638 |
4TH RACE 35 |
| 145 | SPECIAL 5 | CU 08 TOR C 220 | 55 | CU 08 TOR C 220 | 14 | CU 08 TOR C 220 | 67 | CU 08 TOR C 220 | 9 |
| 209 | REMAX BREEDERS INC 3 | CU 08 ORI 138 | 47 | CU 08 ORI 138 | 23 | CU 08 ORI 138 | 109 | CU 08 ORI 138 | 30 |
| 242 | ELEANOR'S LOFT | CU 08 PINE 169 | 175 | CU 08 PINE 169 | 3 | CU 08 PINE 169 | 22 | CU 08 PINE 169 | 42 |
| 312 | MONMINIE, GARRY | CU 08 1853 | 15 | CU 08 1853 | 35 | CU 08 1853 | 240 | CU 08 1853 | 22 |
| 320 | NAYLOR, DAVE | CU 08 MTN P 26 | 36 | CU 08 MTN P 26 | 33 | CU 08 MTN P 26 | 128 | CU 08 MTN P 26 | 123 |
| 328 | BARRIE A | CU 08 BARRIE 8778 | 21 | CU 08 BARRIE 8778 | 112 | CU 08 BARRIE 8778 | 153 | CU 08 BARRIE 8778 | 42 |
| 351 | WILBUR & NEAD | CU 08 CHAT 573 | 9 | CU 08 CHAT 573 | 21 | CU 08 CHAT 573 | 266 | CU 08 CHAT 573 | 55 |
| 375 | WINSLOW & OTTAWAY | CU 08 ORI 63 | 117 | CU 08 ORI 63 | 68 | CU 08 ORI 63 | 17 | CU 08 ORI 63 | 173 |
| 377 | ALVES 1, TONY | AU 08 CANADA 8496 | 239 | AU 08 CANADA 8496 | 24 | AU 08 CANADA 8496 | 87 | AU 08 CANADA 8496 | 27 |
| 386 | KALKOWSKI, TAD | CU 08 FAR N 74 | 1 | CU 08 FAR N 74 | 107 | CU 08 FAR N 74 | 133 | CU 08 FAR N 74 | 145 |
| 393 | CHU & HOU 2, EDWARD & JULES | CU 08 MTN P 3861 | 19 | CU 08 MTN P 3861 | 61 | CU 08 MTN P 3861 | 256 | CU 08 MTN P 3861 | 57 |
| 394 | SWANCE, B & N | CU 08 TD 852 | 211 | CU 08 TD 852 | 89 | CU 08 TD 852 | 9 | CU 08 TD 852 | 85 |
| 395 | DE ANGELIS & SOLAZZO | QC 08 RACQ 22908 | 12 | QC 08 RACQ 22908 | 200 | QC 08 RACQ 22908 | 173 | QC 08 RACQ 22908 | 10 |
| 403 | MILLIDIUS, CHRISTOS | CU 08 10140 | 182 | CU 08 10140 | 4 | CU 08 10140 | 164 | CU 08 10140 | 53 |
| 406 | WILBUR & NEAD | CU 08 CHAT 552 | 231 | CU 08 CHAT 552 | 84 | CU 08 CHAT 552 | 28 | CU 08 CHAT 552 | 63 |
| 407 | MONMINIE, GARRY | CU 08 1859 | 268 | CU 08 1859 | 35 | CU 08 1859 | 28 | CU 08 1859 | 76 |
| 407 | MONMINIE, GARRY | CU 08 1860 | 175 | CU 08 1860 | 31 | CU 08 1860 | 96 | CU 08 1860 | 105 |
| 412 | LOCANTE, FRANK | AU 08 FRLO 8062 | 348 | AU 08 FRLO 8062 | 6 | AU 08 FRLO 8062 | 25 | AU 08 FRLO 8062 | 33 |
| 425 | MONMINIE, GARRY | CU 08 1863 | 262 | CU 08 1863 | 46 | CU 08 1863 | 79 | CU 08 1863 | 38 |
Monday, Aug 25th, 2008.....we had our 4th Official Training Race today, what a beautiful day, sunny but not hot and a light tailwind. The birds did fantastic with most over 60 miles per hour. Congratulations to C & R LOFT with the first bird and they win $500. Brad will provide me with the Top 20 final standings of the Champion Bird contest, I will post as soon as I get the official standings BUT I can tell you for sure the winner is TRI COUNTY with their outstanding bird CU 08 TRI C 638, CONGRATULATIONS. Tri County are the winners of the UNIKON CLOCKING SYSTEM. Just a few reminders about the agenda: SHIPPING....Sat Aug 30th beginning at 1:30 pm. You are allowed to handle your birds but they will be called out in random order so to ensure that you do not miss handling your birds you must be here at the beginning. Our famous "Empire Chili" will be served after the birds are basketed. LOFT AUCTION begins 6 pm Sat Aug 30th, if you wish to pre purchase your loft for $75 per team the money must be in our hands by the start of the auction (6 pm). There will be opportunities to pool and activate your birds during the day on Sat 30th. Sunday Aug 31st (RACE DAY).....Owners have until 11 am to pool and activate their birds. From 11 am to 12 noon others can pool and activate birds not taken by their owners. Around 1:30 pm our cattered dinner will be served. Race birds arriving 2pm to 5pm. I would strongly suggest that you take the time to read the General Rules again and also the last few diary entries, I get many questions about items that are already explained in the rules or the diary....................................jim
Sunday, Aug 24th, 2008.....Brad Harsell created a program to calculate the Champion Bird for the training races, many thanks Brad. Here is the TOP 20 standings after 3 training races:
43 pts TRI COUNTY CU 08 TRI C 638
136 SPECIAL 5 CU 08 TOR C 220
179 REMAX BREEDERS INC 3 CU 08 ORI 138
195 DUHRA, COSSINS & KULIS 1 CU 08 CAL 2261
197 DAVE NAYLOR CU 08 MTN P 26
200 ELEANOR'S LOFT CU 08 PINE 169
202 WINSLOW & OTTAWAY CU 08 ORI 63
229 MONTREAL WEST TEAM CU 08 MONT W 8334
234 TORO LOFT CU 08 9975
241 KALKOWSKI, TAD CU 08 FAR N 74
247 REMAX BREEDERS INC 3 CU 08 208
253 BILL, BRAD & RICK 1 CU 08 TRI C 419
261 NIAGARA FLYERS CU 08 8373
282 WHITE WINGS LOFTS CU 08 WWCA 1043
286 BARRIE A CU 08 BARRIE 8778
290 MONMINIE, GARRY CU 08 1853
293 DANIELA'S BRIDAL BOUTIQUE CU 08 GTL 103
296 WILBUR & NEAD CU 08 CHAT 573
298 MADRUSAN, GUIDO CU 08 TD 2031
Thursday, Aug 21st, 2008......we held the 3RD OFFICIAL TRAINING RACE today. It was a great day to toss the birds, sunshine all the way and a 10 km HEADWIND. The birds did fantastic, they really motored even with the headwind. They got broke up into several groups on the way home even though they left the release site together. We released from 120 miles (200 km), congratulations to TRI COUNTY syndicate who had the first bird home and win $500. The results are posted under the "inventory" tab. Please ignore the first name (Jeff Ogrodnick) on the result, Jeff's bird returned from a previous toss this morning, you can see by the time that it returned before the others were released. Last week my email was down and as a result I lost several incoming emails, if you emailed me and did not get a response please email me again. ........................jim
Wednesday, Aug 20th, 2008.....NEWS FLASH....yesterdays Training Race had the first two birds timed on the same decimal of a second. I checked with Germany to see if the internal system places them in the correct order or are they tied. I thought, like most systems, even though they are showing the same time, internally they are placed in the correct clocking sequence. I checked the numbering of the pigeon rings to see if they were sorted by ascending order and they are not, there is no consistent ring sequence which further led me to believe the internal clock system was placing them in the correct order. This is not the case, any clock times on the same decimal of a second are considered a dead heat. Therefore congratulations go out to JAROSLAW SIEK as well as TAD KALKOWSKI who are tied for 1st and split the $500 prize ($250 each). This complicates things a little but here is how it will work: Champion bird of the 4 training races, all birds on the same clock time will receive the race position of the first of those birds on the same time ie Tad's and Jaroslaw's birds will both be 1, the next bird is 3 (other birds do not move up, they keep their actual position. Prize money for the High Roller we add those paid positions of the tied birds and divide by the number tied and pay out equal amounts. Classic 350 prizes (after 1st drop) work the same way. Pools $500 WTA tied birds split the pot, pools 10 to 1, tied birds will both get the qualified 10 to 1 amount if there are 10 to 1 prizes left, if there is only one or portion thereof left the tied birds will split equally. For the 50/30/20 pools, if the first two pool birds are tied you add the 50% and 30% together and split equally, same system applies if there is more than two at the same second (3 or more add the 50/30/20 together and split equally. Same applies to the Loft auction. Hope this is clear...............................jim
Tuesday, Aug 19th, 2008......we held our 2ND OFFICIAL TRAINING RACE TODAY (see inventory tab) from 85 miles (143 km). It was another fast race, almost 60 miles a hour. The unbelievable happened, TAD KALKOWSKI won again, Tad you better go out and buy a lottery ticket. Tad wins another $500 for his 1st place finish. Don't forget the best bird over the 4 Official Training Races wins a UNIKON clocking system generously donated by UNIKON (Diester Electronics). The plan is for our next two Official training races to be flown from 120 miles (200 km). I hope they are a little slower to shake things up a little. Some of the birds that missed the last few tosses because of injuries were back in for todays race and it appears most made it home. Just because you don't find your bird on the training result it could still be here and has time to get ready for the Classic 350. Weather looks good for the next few days, finally. We will most likely have our 3rd Training race later this week, good luck..........................................jim
Sunday, Aug 17th, 2008.....just checked the weather, looks like Monday is real "iffy" so we will shoot for Tuesday for the 2nd Official training race. My email is finally back up and working. Just to clarify a few points on my last diary entry. Anyone attending the Empire Classic shipping and race do not have to send pool and activation money ahead of time, you can pay when you attend BUT remember owners only have until 11 am race day to pool and activate their birds, after 11 am race day others can pool and activate your birds. Also anyone attending the race does not have to have a certified cheque, we will accept personal cheques from those in attendance. The loft auction will be held on the shipping day evening (6 pm), if you want to purchase your loft ahead of time for $75 and you will not arrive until race day you will have to send us the $75 ahead of time (don't forget to send 5% GST on top of the $75). After the loft auction begins you can not reserve your loft for $75, it will be auctioned to the highest bidder. For those sending in pool money and activation money please send by express or courier to make sure it gets here, any money arriving after the race will not be accepted. Also please assume your birds are here even if they have not shown on the latest race reports, send enough money to cover everything, you can call me or email me (up to midnight on the shipping day) instructions on how you want your money spent, if you sent too much money or you change your mind on pooling and activation you will get a refund, if you have not sent enough money there is nothing you can do. Please remember there is a 5% GST charge on all pooling, bird activation and loft auction money............................jim
Thursday, Aug 14th, 2008.....we had our 1st Official Training Race today from 80 miles (135 km). The birds were fast, the first bird arriving just under 1 1/2 hours. The weather was super at release, with a light tail wind and was good all the way home. About 2 hours after the first bird arrived the weather got real nasty to the north of us, what else is new.
A few of the late comers got caught in the rain but I am sure they will be back. CONGATULATIONS TO TAD KALKOWSKI, owner of the first bird and winner of $500. After today's race I moved several birds into the general population from the hospital section, they had hit wires but look great now, hopefully you will find some new birds on the next training race posting. My email service has been down since last weekend, they promise it will be fixed by this weekend. As a result I could not email you the Pooling and activation sheet. DO NOT WAIT FOR THE POOL SHEET, time is getting tight, you must send your activation and pooling money right away. The pools are the same as last year. The 10 to 1 pools are $10, $20, $30, $50, $100, $200 (they are progressive). The 3 payout pools (50%, 30%, 20% split) are $10, $20, $30, $50, $100, $200 (they are also progressive). Progressive means you must start at the lowest pool amount and continue higher, you cannot skip the $10, $20, $30, and go directly to the $50, you must go in the lower pools also. The $500 "winner take all" pool is the only exception, you can go in the $500 WTA pool with out going in the other lower pools. Activation fees for the 4th and 5th bird of the 5 bird teams is $100 per bird. Activation cost for the 2nd bird of the 2 bird teams is $350 per bird. We will also have a loft (team) auction. The auction will take place at 6 pm on the shipping day (scheduled for Sat Aug 30th). You can purchase your loft (team) ahead of time for $75, if you have not pre purchased your team it will be auctioned to the highest bidder. Loft auction payout is 100% of funds taken in and will be paid out in 3 prizes (50%, 30%, 20%). There is a 5% GST (Goods and services tax) charge on all pooling money, activation fees and loft auction money. This means when you send your pooling money, activation fees and loft auction money YOU MUST SEND ANOTHER 5% ON TOP OF YOUR TOTAL FEES. Please send your pooling, activation fees etc now, all monies must be in our hands by the race weekend. Don't forget to send an additional 5% GST calculated on your total fees. Don't take a chance on Canada post, pay a couple of extra bucks and send by courier service to make sure it gets here on time. Also we DO NOT ACCEPT PERSONAL CHEQUES from out of town fanciers, we got burned last year so please send "certified cheques" or money orders or equal. American fanciers must send enough dollars to cover the exchange rate and exchange fees, make sure you send extra we will refund any extra dollars back to you but if you do not send enough to cover fees and exchange we will not accept your money, once again we got burned last year from Americans not coming good on exchange rate short fall. If you send money for activation and pooling and your bird does not go to the race your money will be refunded, if you send extra money that is not used your excess funds will be refunded. PLEASE SEND POOL AND ACTIVATION MONEY NOW..............................................JIM
Tuesday, Aug 12th, 2008.....we are still dodging the rain. We had another toss today at 60 miles (100 km). The birds are doing great, you can see the clocking results of this toss under the "inventory" tab. Remember we toss the birds in 4 different groups so keep that in mind when you are looking for your birds. Also I have several birds that did not go on the toss because they are recovering from various cuts from wires. These injured birds have lots of time to get ready for the Classic 350. I am hoping to have the 1st Official Training race this Thursday, weather permitting. Unikon is once again donating a Unikon clocking system to the Champion bird over the 4 Official training races. The champion bird must clock in ALL 4 TRAINING RACES to win. We determine the winner by adding the clocking position of all four races, the bird with the LOWEST score is the winner. We are also giving $500 to the first bird clocked at each of the four official training races, good luck. ...................jim
Thursday, Aug 7th, 2008.....we had a 50 mile training toss today, it has been a challenge dodging the rain. The birds got home just before most of the rain arrived. I have posted the arrival times of today toss under the "inventory" tab. Keep in mind that I am tossing the birds in 5 different groups so don't get too excited if you are near the top and don't get worried if you are near the bottom. If you check the clock times you will see that the birds are trapping very well, the first 90 birds home were in the clock in 60 seconds. The posting of these training tosses will serve as your inventory, you will have to check down the list to find your birds. This will be the only means of posting an inventory, I will not be revising the initial inventory which was shown under the "reservations" tab. Keep checking from time to time under the "inventory" tab for the latest postings of the training tosses. If your bird does not show on the training toss result it could still be here, I have several birds that missed the toss because they hit wires and were put aside until they recover. Also your bird may have arrived home after I closed the training toss clock list. Our first "official" training race will be next week, I will let you know as it gets closer...............................jim
Tuesday, Aug 5th, 2008.....the birds are road training well, we have them out to the 40 mile mark, they are ready to go beyond, the condition of the birds is outstanding, I hope to have the 1st official training race next week. We have had a few hit wires but nothing in high numbers at this time. I have the electronic rings on all the birds, we finished that task yesterday. We trained today but I did not have the clock on, the system is still in the house from the programming. We should have the clock setup for the next training toss and all subsequent tosses. We will post those training results on our site, most likely under the "inventory" tab. Keep checking this diary because we have a lot of info to put out in the next couple of weeks, time is marching on. In a few days I will post info on the pooling so that out of area people can start sending in their pool and activation money. This year we will not accept last minute personal checks, last year we got stiffed by two fanciers who "stopped payment" on their checks after seeing the race results. Out of area fanciers must send "certified" checks or money orders or send their personal checks in time to clear the bank. I will give more info on this in a few days. Talk to you in a few days.............................jim
Wednesday, July 30, 2008.....just a quick note to let you know training is going very good. The birds have had several tosses and are coming great. It has been a challenge to dodge the rain but we have been making out good. The days, like today, when we cannot road train we loft fly the birds, they are still rambling away from home during loft flying. The health is perfect. Since we race our Classic 350 in 4 1/2 weeks I must now push the birds out further, I can no longer baby them, it is now survivor of the fittest. We will lose some birds training because they are pushed onto the trailer without handling, some will end up going when they would not if I was handling individual birds. If a bird has an obvious problem I will set it aside, otherwise they all go. I am presently programming the electronic rings, it is a very time consuming process but I hope to be done by this weekend, once the rings are on the birds I will post the training tosses. Good luck with your own young bird racing..................................jim
Sunday, July 20th, 2008....yesterday I handled all the Classic birds and Judy recorded the ring numbers so we have a complete inventory as of today. This first inventory is later than last year so reflects a larger number of birds "missing in action". The birds "missing in action" are a result of health problems, birds lost during the settling process, birds lost off the roof and rambling and birds lost during the first few training tosses. I can tell you the birds that are left handle fantastic. They are loft flying and rambling great. Hopefully we can avoid any "training tosses from hell" and keep the remaining losses to a minimum. Congratulations to those that have most and in many cases, all of their birds still here. For those that are missing a high percentage of birds remember it only takes one to win. My next chore is to program and place the electronic rings on the birds, when this is complete I will record the arrival times of all training tosses and place the result on our web site. This will serve as your future ongoing inventory list. The first inventory list can be viewed on the "reservations" list. The birds highlighted in pink are "missing in action". It is possible for "missing in action" birds to return and show up on future training toss lists. Good luck the rest of the way.......jim
Monday, July 14th, 2008....birds are doing great, they are loft flying super and we have just started road training. My next big chore is to place electronic rings on the birds so that we can do our first inventory. This is a big job but hopefully we can complete this task in the next few days. I am sure you are anxious to know if your birds are still here, I am also anxious to see who is here and who is not. I do not keep tabs on which birds are lost so it is a surprise for me also. My gut feeling is we are in the expected range of 10% to 20% lost which is fairly normal for this stage in the game. Keep checking the diary for info on the upcoming inventory. Good luck.....................jim
Friday. July 4th, 2008......Happy 4th of July to our American friends and I hope all Canadians had a great July 1st holiday. The Classic birds look SUPER! They are loft flying fantastic, breaking into groups and ranging away from the loft. I will get them out flying as much as possible over the next 2 weeks and then we start road training. Everything is right on schedule. Today was the last day to mail new High Roller entries. I thought the High Roller team was a great way to get more prize money for the winners and also a way to get some prize money paid out by clocking order instead of 1st drop system. Where are all those people that said they prefer clocking order instead of first drop??? Many people will hold off entering until they see how many others are entered, well if everyone does that how will we ever get anything new started? Remember for the future if we come up with an idea don't hold back and sit on the fence because if you do it won't happen. Next year I will not bother with the High Roller. Shortly I will place the electronic rings on the birds and we will be able to do our first inventory. Things will start to happen fast now so keep checking the diary. ....................jim
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008.....the birds are beginning to look VERY GOOD. The health issues are cleared up and the birds are starting to loft fly very well, they are not rambling yet but should be in another week or two. I want to talk about the HIGH ROLLER teams. I started the High Roller for a few reasons, 1) I wanted to get more money for the top winners in the Empire Classic. The only way to get more money in the race is to take more birds or raise the cost of the team entry. I did not want to do either, I wanted to keep the standard 5 bird team at $1000 and I do not want to handle more than 1000 birds so we came up with the HIGH ROLLER TEAM. 2) Some people do not like the 1st drop system so the High Roller is a means of rewarding clocking order and not 1st drop system. This is how it works.......The HIGH ROLLER team cost $1500 for the 5 bird team. All 5 birds on the HIGH ROLLER team are HIGH ROLLER birds. The first $1000 of the HIGH ROLLER fee is part of the standard Empire Classic pay structure which includes perch fee, GST and capitol prize money and is flown for under the standard Empire Classic prize payout including the 1st drop system. In other words the first $1000 of the HIGH ROLLER fee is handled exactly the same as the standard $1000 5 bird team. The remaining $500 (less 5% gst) of the HIGH ROLLER fee is paid out in 4 prizes as follows 1st 40%, 2nd 30%, 3rd 20%, 4th 10%. These prizes are paid out by clocking order, NOT 1ST DROP. This means that a HIGH ROLLER bird has two ways to win, standard Empire Classic prize payout based on the 1st drop system plus the 4 High Roller prizes based on clocking order. Note: all your 5 birds on your HIGH ROLLER team are HIGH ROLLER birds which means if you have the first 4 High Roller birds you win all 4 High Roller prizes. Some examples of the High Roller payouts (less 5% GST) are as follows: 30 HIGH ROLLER TEAMS = 1st..$6000, 2nd...$4500, 3rd...$3000, 4th...$1500 and with 50 HIGH ROLLER TEAMS = 1st...$10000, 2nd...$7500, 3rd....$5000, 4th...$2500. These payouts are in addition to the standard Empire Classic prize payout. YOU CAN NOW UP GRADE YOUR 5 BIRD TEAM TO A HIGH ROLLER TEAM by sending $500 to Jim McInnes, 184 Hunt Rd, RR4 Brighton On K0K 1H0 . Please make cheques payable to "EMPIRE CLASSIC". High Roller money must be in our hands or post marked by JULY 4TH, 2008.
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008.....I have been waiting for a couple of ongoing issues to be resolved, I hate making diary entries if there is nothing to report BUT we have waited long enough, lets get updated. First the frustrating stuff! I have been waiting since April 1st to get a merchant account so that we can accept major credit cards. I just found out we have been turned down. I think they were confused and concerned about our Empire Classic business. Bottom line is we will have to continue doing things the old fashion way ie cash and cheques. The second frustrating item is the cameras. I thought that we would be up and running by the middle of April, we are still not there yet. What started as a simple thing, "no problem" I was told, has dragged on and as soon as one road block is solved another pops up. Of course the cost is also rising when each new problem has to be solved. In hind sight I wish I had not bothered with the cameras but once you start down a path you almost have to continue because of the time and money already spent. This is a very busy time with the Classic birds, we still have the birds in three groups which makes loft exercising a challenge. We also have the birds on the dark system still and they are starting to look really good. This is also the time when the health problems are at their peak. The timing of the health problems are the same each year. It takes a few weeks before the problems appear which makes May 15th to June 15th the "30 days from hell". Once we get past June 15th we are "home free". The big problem is viruses which will show up in ALL big One Loft Races. The more birds you have from across the country the more problems you bring in. As you know with viruses there is not much you can do except keep the birds separated in groups, treat for the secondary infections and isolate the unhealthy ones. After that you can only hope the birds have the anti-bodies and nature health to fight the virus, most do, some do not. Each year is different, this year is worst than last year but not as bad as 2006. We are over the hump now and everything is looking pretty good now. This winter I plan to write an article on the One Loft health situation and give you some ideas which will hopefully help you send the kind of pigeon that will have no problem in the One Loft environment. We ended up with 802 entries, a BIG THANK YOU to those that supported us this year. We rely on the Canadian fanciers to keep the Empire Classic going. The Empire Classic is the biggest money race in the history of Canadian pigeon racing. I would think Canadian fanciers would be thrilled to have a pigeon race of this size and prestige right here in Canada. We need your continued support to keep the race going. We have discovered that we must rely on the Canadian fanciers because we only get a small number of American birds each year. The Empire Classic will only survive if we get continued Canadian support. I know this is asking a lot because we only have about 1200 Canadian fanciers. I had several fanciers tell me that they were skipping this year but would be back next year, well if too many say that there won't be a next year. This is down from last years 892 entries BUT really not bad considering we had an extremely difficult race last year. When fanciers do not get birds home they are disappointed but it is One Loft racing, every year is different, some years will suit you and your birds and some years will not. Last year was a very hard race and many birds did not make it home but I can guarantee that there was not a single person on the property that was not praying that it was their name I read as the winner. Anyone that was announced as the winner would have thought it was a great race and the best birds won. The fanciers with the prize winners thought it was a great race, some fanciers who did not get birds started making excuses. The biggest beef I heard was "the birds were not trained enough". Unfortunately some do not understand One Loft racing. We do not know what kind of race day we will get but I must choose a training program in advance. I must select a training program that will cover a very easy race or a very hard race and everything in between. I want the birds trained good enough so that if the race is very hard enough birds will make it home to fill the prize list but I don't want them trained so well that if it is an easy race we get 50 or more birds on the drop. We used the same training program in 2006 and 2007 and we will use the same training program for 2008. The training program is approximately 20 road tosses with the longest being 120 miles. I know I am preaching to the faithful but to keep the Empire Classic moving forward we need you to pass the word and help promote the race. Thanks again for your continued support and good luck...............jim
Friday, May 16th, 2008....most important news first, the birds are doing great. We have about 700 outside and flying. They are flying in groups for a good length of time, not going away from the loft but flying well. The remainder of the birds are in the settling cage on top of the landing board. As you can see from the reservation list we still have more birds to arrive which means we are still accepting new teams of birds. Even if you are not reserved, it does not matter, bring out a team of birds. Our bird count at this point is 768 but we would like to get over the 800 bird mark.
My camera expert tells me he needs one more visit to get the cameras on line, I have my fingers crossed. Some sad news to report, last week Bill Kempke passed away. Bill lived in Florida and had been struggling with a bad heart the last few years. Bill loved the One Loft races and had tremendous success over the years. You may have remembered that the Digest did an article last year outlining Bill's success in One Loft racing. Bill has been a participant in all of our Empire Classics, the first year he was Equal 1ST, did not score last year but is back this year. Bill's daughter, Kelly is looking forward to this years Empire Classic. Bill had outstanding pigeons, if you ever get a chance to get a bird or two from Kempke bloodlines, go for it. Good luck with your old bird racing..........................jim
Sunday, May 4th, 2008.....the loft is starting to fill up. The birds look great, no problems so far. Everyone should be commended on the excellent condition that the birds were in when they arrived at the Classic loft. We have about 500 birds loft flying so far and we have others that are sitting in the settling cage on the landing board. My computer expert is coming out tomorrow to work on the cameras, now that the birds are out loft flying I hope we can have the cameras on line soon. Our merchant account which will allow us to accept charge cards should be getting close also. I get many calls asking if we still have room for more entries, yes we have lots of room, send us a team. I also get asked if I will accept birds after the May 11th date, yes I will. I discovered the first year that I had to be flexible with the dates for the bird deliveries. Sometimes our breeding program does not always go according to plan and this will delay the arrival of the Empire Classic entries. All of us want a bigger race so we do accept late entries. I don't think the late arrivals are at any disadvantage, last years winner, Mike & Wally were one of the last to arrive at the Classic Loft. Mike & Wally still have not delivered their two teams for this years race, maybe they know something! We cannot predict what can of race we will have this year but we can guarantee that each year will be different. You will only have a shot at the big prizes if you are in the race. Make sure you are part of the biggest race in Canada and the best social weekend on the 2008 pigeon calendar........................jim
Thursday, May 1st, 2008....just a quick note, Paul Gauvin is bringing birds from Woodstock this Sunday (May 4th). He will bring your birds for you, just give him a call at 519 456 5239. If you live west of Woodstock you can meet him at Woodstock and shorten your trip. I always suggest throwing in a few bucks for gas..........................jim
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008.....busy, busy, busy. Birds are arriving each day, we have approximately 475 birds in the loft now. Our overall numbers keep creeping upward, we are at about 750 so far but there are still many more coming that are not reserved. Keep them coming and keep a "world class" One loft race going in Canada. John Doise is bringing birds from Hamilton tomorrow (Wednesday) morning, he will bring your birds for you if you give him a call. John's phone number is in the back of the yearbook. If John does bring your birds kick in a few bucks toward gas to help him out..................jim
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008.....we are receiving birds every day and most look very good, no obvious problems. As you can see from the reservations list we are continuing to receive teams that were not registered with a deposit, this is what we expected and it is no problem. Anyone can send teams even if you are not registered. I am sure the numbers will continue to rise to an excellent number. I have had several people call and ask if there was still room, they had heard we are full, which is not true, there is still lots of room. I am amazed at the number of rumors and mis- information that floats around in the pigeon world. Since starting the Empire Classic I have heard it all, "the birds all died", "all the birds were lost on a training toss", "the race is full", "Jim is taking 5% of the pools for himself", "Jim is making more money than Donald Trump", etc etc etc. If you want the "real facts" read our Empire Classic Rules on the Home page and also read all the Diary entries. If you are still not sure of something email or call me. Once again a few reminders, if you are sending by Air you must use Air Canada and ship to Kingston Airport. If you can, I prefer Air shipments to arrive during the week, we are very busy on the weekends receiving birds at the loft. If you plan on delivering birds on April 26th and April 27th (this sat and sunday) during the day time, you do not have to notify me, I will be here. Any other time, through the week or in the evenings please notify me so that I can make sure I am here for you. The birds are put on the dark system as they arrive. Please make cheques payable to "Empire Classic"....jim
Sunday, April 20th, 2008......our first weekend of receiving birds went well. As luck would have it our xplornet email service is not working and has been out for the last two or three days. It was suppose to be fixed by 9 pm tonight but is still not working, I am unable to send or receive email. If I have not responded to your email this is the reason. If you need to get in touch with me please call me by telephone (613 475 6052), thank you. Our merchant account to accept charge cards is still a week away. Our web cameras are almost set to go. We just have to license each camera before we can run them on the web site. I also have to upgrade from xp home to xp pro, the home edition does not handle network sharing. These things are always more complicated than expected. This weekend we had several entries that did not register, which is great, spread the word, we still have lots of room for more last minute entries.....................jim
Thursday, April 17th, 2008.......just a few reminders. Make sure your Classic birds are eating and drinking at your loft before you bring them to us. We will be vaccinating the birds for PMV upon arrival but we will not be giving a booster. Feel free to vaccinate for PMV before you bring them to us if you want them to have two shots. If you like your birds vaccinated for paratyphoid then do so before you send them to us. We will be treating for paratyphoid but not with a vaccine. I will be home this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, just bring your birds, you do not have to notify me in advance. If you are coming any other time please notify me so that I can make sure I will be here. Detailed driving instructions can be found on the Empire Classic "Home page". If you are using a GPS you will have to list my city as "CRAHME" not Brighton and then 184 Hunt rd. .....................jim
Sunday, April 13th, 2008.....now the fun begins! Shortly the birds will start to arrive. Just a few reminders......please make all cheques payable to "EMPIRE CLASSIC". Regarding the merchant account which will allow us to accept charge cards, it is in the works but will take another week or two, the red tape to setup this account is unbelievable. When we are ready to go we will be able to accept Visa, MasterCard and American Express. This will be a huge benefit for the American participants because it will eliminate the confusion over the exchange rate. On that note, for our American participants, if you are sending birds before our charge account is up and running, you can send your birds now but pay later when we have the charge card system working. All American birds will be mailed to Don Zehr, New York, our American contact (see complete info on the Home page). All Canadian birds that are shipped by air must be sent to Kingston Airport, via Air Canada. Please give me a call or email when you ship your birds. If you have an email address please make sure I have it by dropping me a quick email. We still have lots of room in the Empire Classic, even if you have not sent a deposit, it does not matter, just send your birds with the full payment. Thanks for your continued support.....................jim
Monday, April 7th, 2008......spring is finally here. The Classic loft is almost ready for birds. I am just mounting the water proof boxes for the video cameras and some changes to the trapping area still to do. The dust free room for the clocking system and computer is complete. The birds will be darkened again this year. Your birds will go on the dark system as soon as they arrive. Bernie Bedard from Ottawa is bringing his birds on April 19th, anyone from that area can send their birds with Bernie if they choose. Please give Bernie a call and make arrangements..................jim
Friday, March 28th, 2008......IMPORTANT NEWS......With the tremendous success of our Empire Classic AND with the increased scrutiny and attention that One Loft Races are attracting, especially in America, we have had to make some changes to ensure that we are legal. One of the biggest changes is that we now have to collect 5% GST (Goods & Services Tax). Your entry into the Empire Classic and also your pooling is subject to 5% GST. For this year we will leave the team entry cost as it is, High Roller $1500, 5 Bird $1000 and 2 Bird $350 BUT the 5% GST will be taken out of your team entry before we calculate the net portion of the capitol money. The pooling will be different, we will add 5% GST to your pooling cost ie. $100 pool plus 5% = $105. Although this is annoying it is still a better deal than most other One Loft Races which charge an addition 10% or 15% on top of pooling money and it goes into the pockets of the organizers. Our 5% GST is a tax which goes to the government. Another change is that we are a registered business called EMPIRE CLASSIC which means all checks you send us must be made out to EMPIRE CLASSIC. I am also working on getting a merchant account so that we can accept credit card payment (Visa). This will be a great convenience to you and especially our American friends, it should eliminate the problem of working out exchange between the Canadian and US dollar. I am hoping to have this in place shortly, I will keep you posted.......jim
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008......Happy Easter! Hope everyone is surviving winter and is having a great breeding season. Reservations with deposits are coming in slow but steady. As I expected most of us don't like to part with our money any sooner than necessary. As long as we are under 1000 birds you have the choice of not sending a deposit and simply sending your birds and pay all at the same time and that is ok with me. The deposit guarantees your space no matter when you bring your birds. If we hit 1000 birds during the delivery period, we are full, we will not take anything beyond 1000. On another note, my web cam expert was here yesterday and we setup a trail camera on the landing board to make sure the wireless system will work over the distance between my house and the classic loft, it worked great. I am excited about this new feature for the Classic. Our plan is to have one camera outside to view the birds on the landing board and the trapping area, this camera will also pickup the birds landing and taking off from the landing board, in fact it may also show them flying. There will be another camera inside the loft to show the birds as they come through the traps and also the front hall area. The third camera will be mounted in the shipping building for shipping, loft auction etc. The camera video will be streamed directly to our web site so that Classic participants can view their birds during their stay at the Classic loft. You will be able to see your birds loft exercising, road training and racing. Another feature of this wireless system is that as the clocking lists from training and racing is produced on the computer in the Classic loft it will be fed directly to our web site for instant viewing by all participants. We hope to have the equipment installed and programming complete by sometime in April...................jim
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008.....hope everyone is surviving winter, this is the most snow since moving to Empire Farm. Your breeders should be paired now or ready to pair soon to have your Empire Classic youngsters ready to send to us. I just heard from Elaine and Glen Lyon that they are donating a "Weekend Getaway" at their Paradise Motel on beautiful Manitoulin Island. They have a great spot, this is where Judy and I have gone the last couple of years, in the fall, for some super Salmon and Trout fishing. We are going to give this "Weekend Getaway" package to the owner of the first bird through the trap at the Empire Classic 350. Many thanks to Elaine and Glen for their generosity. Good luck with your breeding program........................jim
Monday, February 18th,2008......we are now on high speed internet access, three cheers, what a difference from the old dial up. I was lucky, there is a tower on the ridge to the north of us which allowed us to get a wireless land connection. This land connection enables us to stream video from the Classic Loft to our web site. This is the first and most important step in getting a video feed to our web site. In April the cameras will be installed in the Classic Loft and the necessary software installed to allow us to have "real time" video of the birds in the loft, exercising, training and racing. This will make it very exciting for everyone to follow the progress of their birds throughout their stay with us. This will be especially exciting for the out of town fanciers who do not have the opportunity to visit us or attend the Empire Classic races. Each year we try and identify areas to improve our race, we are excited about this years improvements. As a result of us now being connected to "high speed" with xplornet we have a new email address, it is jimmcinnes@xplornet.com . Please change your records to reflect our new email address...................jim
Monday, February 4th, 2008......we are very pleased to announce that we have established an "American contact" to help us get the American entries for the Empire Classic safely across the border into Canada. Our American friend helping us is DON ZEHR, 10850 State Rt 126, Carthage, NY 13619, USA. Telephone: 315 493 2130, email: dzehr1@twcny.rr.com . American entries can be shipped to Don via the US Postal service, we will do the rest and we will pay the expenses to get your birds into Canada. American fanciers can enter the Empire Classic as cheaply and easily as they enter other One Loft races in America. We do the hard part and we pay it for you. Don't worry about your birds making the long trip to Canada, last year we settled the American birds to the Empire Classic loft without losing a single bird.............................jim
Wednesday,Jan 30, 2008.....hope everyone is surviving the winter, not much to report, seems to be in between all the fun pigeon activities, we have not paired the birds yet. In a short time we will start to pair the birds and the Empire Classic activities will start to heat up and before we know it we will be into old bird racing and then I will be wishing we were back in the pigeon doldrums of the "off season". Reservations and deposits for the 2008 Empire Classic are starting to roll in, we expect to fill up again this year. We are taking 1000 birds and that is it, no exceptions. Get your deposit
($250 per team) to us as soon as possible to secure your spot in this years Classic. Make cheques payable to "Jim McInnes" and mail to: Jim McInnes, 184 Hunt Rd, RR4 Brighton, On K0K 1H0. Some local news, my neighbor, Rick Broere, well known pigeon fancier, has become the latest RALPH MOORE'S pigeon feed dealer. Rick has a great facility for selling feed and associated products and he keeps a large supply on hand. Drop in a see Rick or give him a call...................................jim
Tuesday, Jan 1st, 2008.....HAPPY NEW YEAR! Judy and I would like to wish all a very healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. We hope your wishes and dreams come true during 2008.....................jim
Saturday, Dec 22, 2007.....Merry Christmas, have a safe and happy holiday season from us to all our friends.................................Judy and Jim.
Wednesday, Dec 12, 2007.....Judy and I just returned from Florida, we spent a week in Key West. The weather was fantastic in Key West and it is a great place to visit with lots to do. We drove through the everglades and took an air boat ride into the everglades, lots of wild life, it was well worth the small fee. We then arrived at the site of the Gulf Coast Classic in time for the shipping and Classic race. The Gulf Coast Club are super hosts and put on a good show for the visitors. Many thanks to Rick & May Van Veld Hussien and Susan & Bob Debatt for their outstanding hospitality. There were several Canadians attending the Classic festivities, some there for the first time. The race itself was a tough race with just over 300 days birds from over 2300 shipped to the race. The distance of the race is 305 to 315 miles for the majority of lofts. It has been a rough year for some of the major races, the World Trade Center race had, I believe 7 day birds, this is a multi loft race from only 300 miles. Our Empire Classic 350 was a hard race and now the Gulf Coast Classic, another hard race. However we all know, or should, that this is pigeon racing, next year we may be complaining that these same races are too easy. All our Empire Classic business is complete for 2007, we now move forward with 2008. The reservations are starting to arrive for 2008, please remember a deposit of $250 per team must accompany your reservation. The balance of your entry money is due when you send your birds to us in the spring. Please remember to make checks payable to "Jim McInnes". Also please include our street address (184 Hunt Rd) with the rest of the mailing address ie Jim McInnes, 184 Hunt Rd, RR4 Brighton, On K0K 1H0, Canada. Anyone wanting to send installments on their total entry costs are welcome to do so, we will bank your money for you which will save you coming up with a large sum of money all at the same time. We accept reservations with $250 deposit on a "first come, first serve" bases so don't wait to book your perches in the 2008 Empire Classic. We will be updating the "Diary" on a regular bases so please check from time to time for the latest news and Empire Classic updates.
