DIARY

  

 

THURSDAY, SEPT 2ND, 2010.....The big race is coming up quickly, the birds were loft flown again today and they look super. I have posted the final inventory under the "INVENTORY" tab.  Looks like we will have about 84% of total entries for the Classic 350.  Also I have posted the prize payouts for the EMPIRE CLASSIC, look on the "HOME" page for the prize money distribution. In addition to the Empire Classic 350 prize money we also paid out for the Empire Classic 200 (1st....$500, 2nd....$250). Also the winner of the last 185 km Trainer won $250. We have kept aside $5000 to go to the TRIPLE CROWN ACE pigeon but as per our rules this is only paid out if we have all three races, if we do not hold the Marathon 420 the $5000 will be paid out at the Classic 350 (add $200 to the first 25 positions). As an added bonus we are giving a UNIKON clocking system to the bird with the best average speed at the Classic 200 and Classic 350 (2 race average). We will be shipping Saturday, Sept 4th, basketing begins at 2:30 pm so if you want to handle your birds you should be here by 2:30. After the birds are loaded in the trailer and on their way we will have our Chili dinner and then the Loft Auction at 6 pm. If anyone has an item to donate to the 50/50 draw table it would be greatly appreciated, no item too big or too small.  If you are using a GPS to get to Empire Farm do not use Brighton as the city, use instead Cramahe. Kept checking the "DIARY" every day for important updates and news...................jim

 

TUESDAY, AUG 31ST, 2010....Today we held our final training toss before the EMPIRE CLASSIC 350. As usual this summer the weather was hot, hazy, humid and a headwind which has made a hard training program for this years Classic birds but they have done fantastic. The preparation for this years Empire Classic 350 has been difficult, in fact, NOBODY has trained harder than we have, this is a list of their major tosses, 300 km, 185 km, 185 km, 140 km, 140 km, 100 km, 100 km, 75 km, 60 km, 60 km, 40 km, 40 km, 30 km and several shorter tosses. With this kind of training schedule we will lose a few birds but we still have excellent numbers (approx 84 %) for the Empire Classic 350. I know most people still have their full team for the big race. We will loft fly the Classic birds Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and they will be perfect for the Classic 350. I will do a final inventory Thursday night and it will be posted. KEEP CHECKING THE DIARY EVERY DAY for the latest information, in fact it is a good idea to check past diaries in case you missed something. Pools are coming in every day from the "out of town" fanciers. Please remember LOFT AUCTION PRE PAYMENT ($75 per team) must be in our hands by 6 pm Saturday evening and BIRD POOLS by 11 am Sunday morning.

 

SUNDAY, AUG 29TH, 2010.....We had another training toss today, a nice working toss at 60 km into a light headwind. You can find the results under the "INVENTORY" tab. As per our rules the first bird at the LAST 185km training toss receives a prize of $250. I did not announce a winner because at that time I did not know if we were going to have another 185 km trainer. I can now tell you that we are going with shorter tosses until the Classic 350, therefore the winner of the $250 prize is SELECT LOFTS (Jacques Nadeau). Congrats Jacques. I hope everyone has a copy of the pool sheet and if you are not attending our Classic 350 please send in your Loft and Pool money. DO NOT trust Canada Post, send your money via courier service. We will have another training toss in a couple of days which will be posted and I will do a final inventory on THURSDAY evening.....................jim 

 

WEDNESDAY, AUG 25TH, 2010......I have emailed the EMPIRE CLASSIC POOL SHEET to everyone that I have email address, if you did not receive the pool sheet please email me and  I will email one to you. We had 5 more birds return today from yesterdays Empire Classic 200, this gives us 347 birds in the loft at this moment from the original entries of 414 birds which represents a percentage of 84% of total entries still here. We have a few more tosses before the Empire Classic 350 but we should be in great shape. The birds look spectacular from yesterdays race, they bounced back very quickly and look super. Talk to you soon..........jim

 

TUESDAY, AUG 24TH, 2010....we held the EMPIRE CLASSIC 200 (mile) today. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day with a headwind all the way. I was hoping for a tailwind so we could have a blow home and minimize losses but we had to take advantage of a good weather forecast for the day. We needed to hold the race this week so that the birds would have a good break before they go to the EMPIRE CLASSIC 350. There are some hurricanes over the Atlantic and they are due to hit the Eastern seaboard this weekend which usually can disturb the weather, so we went today.  We released 345 birds at 7:15 into a light headwind but the headwind soon increased to a moderate to even heavy headwind and continued all the way home. The birds were in super condition so they did a fantastic job.  A headwind will always break up the birds and that is how todays race went. We had 27 birds on the drop and we continued to get good groups of birds over the next hour. By the end of the day we had 325 birds home. The birds landed and trapped extremely quickly, it was fun to watch. The first group came right on line in a fantastic time, hooked over the loft and dropped right in front of the trap and ran in. Art Plasschaert was going to take a video of the first group but by the time he got the video turned on they had already landed and trapped. Congratulations to all the owners and their birds that came home today on a very hard race, they will be well prepared for the Empire Classic 350. Special congratulations to the owners of the first 27 birds, they broke ahead of the flock and they were all equal in getting home. The first five (5) birds will receive our special EMPIRE CLASSIC MEDALLION, a very special keepsake from the Empire Classic. Also the 1st bird receives $500 and the 2nd bird receives $250. Congrats to 1st.........Mike Kelm,  2nd........Smolenaars & Ubbels,  3rd........Baracuda Loft, Gilles Chaloux,  4th.....Philippians-Silvio,

5th......Canabec Loft.  The complete results are posted under the 'Race Results" tab. If you do not find your bird he may be one of the 17 birds I did not ship to the race or he might be one of the 20 missing birds that could show up tomorrow. The 17 birds I kept home and the birds that might return tomorrow have lots of time to get in shape for the Empire Classic 350. Good luck.......................jim

 

TUESDAY, AUG 24TH, 2010.....the EMPIRE CLASSIC 200 birds are released this morning at 7:15 am. A spectacular day all the way, good luck to all..........jim

 

Monday, Aug 23rd, 2010....the EMPIRE CLASSIC 200 is scheduled for tomorrow, TUESDAY AUG 24TH. You are welcome to come to Empire Farm to watch the race. We WILL NOT have any facilities including toilets, refreshments or lawn chairs so if you come out please bring what you need to be comfortable. The plan is to release the birds around 7 to 7:30 am but please check this DIARY tomorrow morning to make sure the birds were shipped and released. We will place the release time on this DIARY in the morning. The EMPIRE CLASSIC is the first of a possible TRIPLE CROWN (see rules on the Home page). The first bird in the clock will receive $500 and the second bird clocked will receive $250, most importantly the clocking time will be used toward the AVERAGE SPEED for the TRIPLE CROWN winner. Please note there will only be a TRIPLE CROWN winner if all three races are flown (see rules on the Home page).  The EMPIRE CLASSIC 200 results will be published tomorrow night under the "RACE RESULTS" tab. Good luck to all......................................jim

 

FRIDAY, AUG 20TH, 2010......another 185 km toss today. It was a beautiful day, crystal clear and cool BUT not an easy toss, the birds had a headwind all the way home. As you can see from the results (times) they broke into a few groups on the way home. Congrats to SELECT LOFTS for having the first bird through the trap. Our EMPIRE CLASSIC 200 (mile) is next week. Good luck.................jim

 

Wednesday, Aug 18th, 2010......a good toss today from 185 km, a mix of sun and cloud, the first part of the toss was a light side headwind and then switching to a light headwind. The toss is posted under the "inventory" tab. The first bird listed (Paradise Loft) was not in the toss, it returned from a previous toss an hour before the birds arrived. The first bird through the trap from the 185 km toss was from HORNER FAMILY LOFTS. Good luck to all............................jim

 

MONDAY, AUG 16,2010.....another toss today, a very hard toss at 140 km. The birds had a very strong side wind that really made them work. I released all birds in one group today and all future tosses will be in one group. Since they will be released in one group from now on perhaps you can read a little more in the order of finish.  Still the most important thing is that your birds are returning from these tosses because when the big day comes anything can happen. The first race (200 mile) of our Empire Classic Triple Crown is just a week and a half away, the exact day will be determined as we get closer, after checking weather reports. The birds are looking great, keep checking the training results under the inventory tab. Good luck...................jim 

TUESDAY, AUG 10TH, 2010......another 100k toss today, see the "inventory" for results. Today was a very hard toss, hot, hazy, humid with a light head wind. Not an ideal day for training young birds but it seems to be the only weather we are getting this summer so they have to go. Fortunately they are experienced enough to handle these kind of days. The birds are trapping very well with the first 53 birds clocked in 16 seconds and the first 120 birds clocked in 46 seconds. There are always some late arrivals but that is ok, they are picking up experience returning on their own. We usually have the odd bird arriving the next morning but once again they could be first in the clock at a later training toss. The next few tosses will be from 140 k and then we will have 2 or 3 tosses from 190 k. There will be a total of about 20 training tosses before the EMPIRE CLASSIC 200, which is what they get every year we have run the EMPIRE CLASSIC. The only difference this year is that we have the TRIPLE CROWN format so the birds will go to the Empire Classic 200 (mile) after their 20 road tosses instead of directly into the Empire Classic 350 (mile). Good luck to all.............................jim

 

SATURDAY, AUG 7TH.....birds are doing super with their road training, we are out to 100 km with very few losses. The last week or so has been very tricky picking the right days to train because of the high activity of solar flares and sun spots but the birds have handled it fantastic. Training is right on schedule in the birds preparation for the first leg (EMPIRE 200) of the EMPIRE CLASSIC TRIPLE CROWN. Time is marching on and Judy and I are very busy for the preparations for the big CLASSIC WEEKEND (Sept 4th & 5th). Here is some information for our "out of town" visitors. If you are flying in use the TORONTO PERSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, we are about a two hour drive from the airport. If you are looking for good quality accommodations there are several within 20 minutes. Cobourg is west of us and has a BEST WESTERN (401 exit 472) and can be reached at tel 905 372 2105. Also in Cobourg is the COMFORT INN (401 exit 474) and can be reached at tel 905 372 7007. If you are traveling from the east there are three good Hotels in Trenton, HOLIDAY INN (401 exit 526) tel 613 394 4855, COMFORT INN (401 exit 526) tel 613 965 6660 and DAYS INN (401 exit 525) tel 613 392 9291. If you need additional information on our EMPIRE CLASSIC WEEKEND please get in touch with me......................jim 

 

TUESDAY, JULY 20TH.....birds are training well, they have had 4 tosses so far. We are now placing the training toss reports under the "INVENTORY" tab, we will save the "RACE RESULTS" page to show the results of the three EMPIRE TRIPLE CROWN races.  We will start to stretch out the training toss distances now that they have the routine down pat. When reading the training reports please do not place too much importance in where you finish on the list, we are still tossing the birds in groups of about 100 birds. At this time you should only be using the training report to show if your birds are still here. You may also notice that your bird may be missing from the training report but show up again in a subsequent report. If I notice that a bird is under stress or injured I will put it aside and it will miss some tosses until it is fit again.  Good luck to all and keep checking under the "INVENTORY" tab..................................jim

 

FRIDAY, JULY 16,2010......I am sure you are waiting for news! Well we have great news for most of you. This year we have a total entry of 414 birds. Two days ago I handled all birds in the loft and place electronic rings on 401 birds, that's right we still have 401 birds out of 414 entered. We believe we have the BEST MANAGEMENT in One Loft Racing and we think our track record proves it. Each year we go to the "main event" with a high percentage of birds, our best was in 2007 when from a total entry of 902 birds we sent 82 % to the Empire Classic 350, this year we are hoping to beat that 82 %. Also we have started the road training, you can see the results on this web site, click on "RACE RESULTS". We will post most, if not all of the training results. We will only keep 3 training results on the site at one time because of space, the most recent will be at the top. Keep checking every two or three days so that you do not miss a training result posting before it is deleted. These training result postings will serve as your ongoing inventory so keep tuning in to follow the progress of your birds. It is possible that your bird may be missing from a toss or two but show up on a later result, this is because your bird may arrive home to late to show on the report or it may not have gone to the training toss. If any birds have an injury or other problem they will be set aside and not trained until they are fit. Good luck to all and enjoy following your birds in the "RACE RESULTS". On a personal note, we in the Eastern Ontario Combine have just completed one of the most difficult old bird series that I can remember. Every weekend was hot, humid and always the threat of thunder storms and rain plus most of our race days were headwinds. It was an extreme challenge for our birds and also an unprecedented challenge for our race liberator, Andy Pallotta who did a super job getting us racing each weekend and for the most part, races from our scheduled release point.  I hate it when liberators pull back to a shorter release point at the slightest sign of problems, especially when they pull back shorter on the first day. Well done Andy!  Our birds performed outstanding for us in this difficult racing season, we won 1st Combine Average Speed, 1st Combine Overall Long Average Speed and 1st Combine Champion Old Bird Loft. Our birds did exceptionally well at the longer races (500, 500 & 600), the first 500 mile (775 km) there were no days birds and only 13 birds in race time, we were 1st & 4th Combine. The second 500 mile was also a hard one will strong headwinds, there were only 10 day birds, we were 5th Combine and we had our 5 clock birds in the top 25 of the Combine (we have a 5 bird clocking limit). The 600 mile (923 km) was another hard race with our bird being the ONLY DAY BIRD in the Combine. We had our 5 clock birds in the top 16 positions in the Combine. This was a fantastic thrill for us, we have won 1st Combine at the 600 several times before but it is truly rare that any of us get the opportunity to have the only day bird. No we are not on the short end, we are amongst the long end flyers in the Combine. I hope all of you had your proud moments in the Old Bird racing season.........................jim  

 

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010.......birds are doing great, they are really loft flying well despite the hot temperatures and humidity. They are super to watch, they all go up in the air and then break into smaller groups and ramble away from the loft, usually in different directions and they return at different times. Many times we will think that all groups have returned from rambling when another group will come roaring back. Another two weeks of great loft flying and we will start the road work. The video cameras seem to be working extremely well, many have told me they enjoy watching the birds loft exercise. You can swing the camera toward the sky and watch the birds as they circle the loft. When we start the road training we will post the returning times on this web site under "race results". I will let you know on this diary when we begin to post training tosses......................jim

 

Monday, June 28th, 2010......I wonder if any of the "eagle eyes" out there noticed the Empire Classic video cameras are up and running! We got them setup last week and they seem to be working very good. Go to the EMPIRE CLASSIC home page and near the top click on the high lighted video camera address and then follow the instructions. The best chance to view the birds when they are loft flying is afternoons through the week...........................jim

 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23RD, 2010......"No news is good news", that is the theme for this diary entry. Nothing new to report, birds are doing great and really loft flying well, many are roaming away from the loft especially on those nice sunny days.  We look forward to another 3 or 4 weeks of loft flying and "rambling" and then the road training will begin. Hopefully the weather improves, it sure has been "hit and miss" this spring. The race liberators have had a challenging year to call race releases. Several Combines in my area have cancelled weekend racing, which is very rare, our Combine (EOC) has not cancelled racing, which is super, we don't look after them 12 months of the year to have them sit at home during the race schedule. Good luck to everyone the rest of the Old Bird racing season........jim

 

Monday, June 14th, 2010.......All birds are now in one group and have access to the whole loft, they can go anywhere they choose and can perch in which ever section they prefer. ALL birds are loft flown together, if one bird is out loft flying every bird in the loft is also out flying. We believe the most important aspect of a ONE LOFT is that ALL birds are treated exactly the same, that is what makes it a "One Loft" and equally fair to everyone. We are excited about this year with the changes we have made, including switching to a "TRIPLE CROWN" format. The birds will have a 200 mile, a 350 mile and a 420 mile races. This is a challenging task for the birds and only superior birds will be able to meet the challenge. Thanks to those who have the confidence in their breeding stock to enter this years EMPIRE CLASSIC TRIPLE CROWN. The birds are out loft flying every afternoon and look SUPER, the health is outstanding and we are ahead of schedule in our management of the birds. Now we just watch them continue to increase their loft flying and rambling until road training begins.......................jim

 

Saturday, June 5th, 2010.....My grand daughter, Jade and I released pigeons last night at Brighton's "RELAY FOR LIFE" cancer fund raiser. We were part of the opening ceremonies. The lady on stage setting the scene for the release of the birds is Joe Chenier, sister of Jim Towes, Port Hope pigeon fancier. There was a huge turnout, I think almost everyone from Brighton was attending this event. The local high school students and other relay teams run or walked all night to raise money for cancer research. The local radio station and area news papers were also present, in fact for over a week the local radio station was announcing the release of racing pigeons at this event.   The pigeons were a big hit with everyone in attendance, great public relations for our sport. Prior to the release of the birds Jade held a bird while several children patted the bird or simply looked on fascinated with the birds. When the birds were released there was a huge cheer from the spectators as the birds did a half circle around the Remax hot air balloon and then headed for home....................................jim

 

Sunday, May 30th, 2010......We still have a few fanciers who have reservations for our race but have not sent their teams. Please call or email me and let me know the status of your entry, if you are going to be a few days late, that is ok, just let me know you are coming. Anyone that has not reserved but still wants in this years race please also let me know. The birds are doing super, the best year we have seen health wise, just perfect, it is a good year to be in the Empire Classic loft. Three groups are flying out, we just have the final group to break which we will do when all the remaining birds are here. Once the final group is out flying we will open up the complete loft to all groups so that every bird has the option of going any where they want in the loft. Also ALL BIRDS will be loft flown together so that all birds are treated in an identical manner. As I mentioned in the previous entry, if you have not heard from me all your birds are here and doing well. Good luck the rest of the way......................jim 

 

TUESDAY, MAY 25TH, 2010.......Yesterday I did my first inventory, I handled every pigeon in the Classic loft. There were only two birds missing so if you did not get a personal email from me you are 100%. We are still getting new teams arriving so we will do our next inventory on or about June 15th. Congrats and good luck...................jim

 

Sunday, May 23rd, 2010......all is going well, birds look great. We are still getting new entries for the Empire Classic so if you have a few extra youngsters send them to us, the late arriving youngsters do just as well as the early birds. There is just over a week left to get your birds to us. We are still waiting for several "reserved" team as well, if we don't have any "drop outs" we should hit 500 birds which gives us a 1st prize of $20,000, not bad odds, 1 in 500 chance to win $20,000. ...jim

 

Saturday, May 15th, 2010.......things are moving along on schedule, we have about 280 birds out flying and we are building up the third group. The birds are looking great and starting to fly very well. When they are outside they are up and down and some are starting to "kit" in a group, it won't be long until they really start to go.

This last week I think I was at the airport every day to pick up birds. As you can see from the "reservations" list we are still adding new teams that were not previously registered. There is still plenty of time to get your team of birds to us, we have until June 1st.  Based on previous years the late arriving birds do just as well in the race as the early bred birds, in fact several fanciers prefer to send the later bred birds, so keep them coming. Just a reminder, make all cheques payable to "Empire Classic",  please make arrangements with me prior to delivery or shipment of your birds so that I will be home to receive your birds. Good luck.........jim

 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 5TH, 2010.............Birds are doing great, the first group goes outside every afternoon. The second group is now full, they will go in the settling cage this weekend and out on their own next week. We are starting to work on filling the third group. Take a look at the super photo of the first group enjoying the outside, as you can see some are flying nicely and most are up and down...................................jim

 

 

 

FRIDAY April 30th, 2010......We have increased security at EMPIRE FARM, check out our new additions, "DODGER" (yellow lab) and "JACKSON" (black lab). The first group of 135 CLASSIC birds were outside today for the first time, the weather is perfect and there is no wind for the first time in several days. The birds did super outside and the health, so far, is perfect. Please advise us when you are bringing your birds so that we can be here for you. Also please make cheques payable to "EMPIRE CLASSIC"..................jim

 

                                              "OFF DUTY"                                                                "TAKING FIREWOOD INSIDE FOR THE STOVE"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                             "ON GUARD"

 

 

 

Monday April 26th, 2010......birds are coming in nice and steady, we are still receiving new entries, keep them coming. When delivering birds please make sure you notify me in advance to insure that we are home. If you arrive and we are not here just leave your birds in the crate sitting on the hay wagon in the drive shed, we always check when we arrive home. Your cheque can also be left under the crate, if you are uncomfortable leaving money than just mail it to me when you go home. Please make all cheques payable to "Empire Classic".  Birds are all looking great........................jim

 

Friday, April 16th, 2010.....this weekend birds can be delivered before 11:30 am or after 4:00 pm, I will be away both days between 11:30 am and 4:00 pm. Please let me know when you are coming with your birds. We had a nice visit with Elaine and Glen Lyon (Manatoulin Island) when they delivered their birds on Thursday. The birds that have been delivered look great, everyone so far has brought good healthy youngsters. Please don't be afraid to bring youngsters that have already been weaned at your loft for about a week, they do much better in the Classic loft if they get a good start in your loft........................jim

 

MONDAY, APRIL 12, 2010.........We have just completed our first weekend of receiving birds. We had quite a few birds come in, check out the list on the "RESERVATIONS" page. We also had a few teams show up that were not on the reservations list, this is super, keep them coming, there is lots of room for all your birds. Some of you may have made tentative plans with other "One Lofts" in Canada and America, take a moment to study and compare our track record, our facilities for hosting this kind of event, our loft, our prize money structure AND our RACING and TRAINING program. If you decide to join us, YOU ARE MOST WELCOME...........................jim

 

TUESDAY, APRIL 6TH, 2010......For those delivery birds this coming weekend I will be home all day Saturday but on Sunday I will be away from 10 am until 3 pm. If you have to deliver Sunday please come before 10 am or after 3 pm. Thanks...................jim

 

Monday, April 5th, 2010.......The "fun" begins, we start taking in the first arriving EMPIRE CLASSIC birds April 10th (this Saturday). I know many are planning to arrive this Saturday, we will be available all day long and again on Sunday. After this weekend please give me a "heads up" when you plan on bringing your entries. For those sending your entries via air please send all entries via AIR CANADA to Kingston, Ontario. Once again please give me a call or email when you plan your shipment. All birds will be vaccinated for PMV upon arrival, they will only get the one PMV shot, if you want your birds to have two shots for PMV please feel free to vaccinate your birds at least one week before shipping. You can also vaccinate for Paratyphoid prior to shipping if you choose. I see many ONE LOFT RACES will change the rules that they originally posted as they go along. We have always believed that it is very important to follow through with everything you advertise and  say you will do. We originally posted a prize structure based on 900 birds, we will end up with approximately 450 birds so we simply cut the prizes in half BUT maintained the same prize structure. This means now based on 450 birds 1ST will be $20,000, 2ND will be $10,000 etc etc (see rules for complete prize list)

Also we stated in our original rules the training program, approximately 20 training tosses with 2 or 3 tosses at 120 miles (200 km) and then into the 200 miles (320 km) race. We will continue to do what we advertise we will do. Everyone is welcome to send birds to this years Empire Classic, you do not need to be on our RESERVATIONS LIST...............JUST SEND YOUR BIRDS.................................jim

 

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 ****HAPPY ST PATRICTS DAY****we just had a super auction of GABY IMPORTS on www.albertaclassic.net Thanks to those who bid and purchased some great breeders. More good news, I have some outstanding RUTTEN JANSSEN IMPORTS at auction on two great auctions sites, www.albertaclassic.net  and www.ipigeon.com Check out these birds, they are outstanding. Both auctions are running at the same time, if you buy birds at both sites you will only have to pay shipping charges once since all your purchases can be shipped at the same time from EMPIRE FARM. Good luck in the sales. EMPIRE CLASSIC news, Bernie Bedard from the Ottawa area is delivering his Classic birds to us April 10th, anyone wanting to send their Classic birds with Bernie please get in touch with him....................jim

 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10TH, 2010......Last chance to bid on some great GABY VANDENABEELE IMPORTS from HANS EIJERKAMP & SONS. They are on the Alberta auction site ( www.albertaclassic.net ) and they are down to the last day or two. They are in great shape and ready to breed winners for you. Good luck with your breeding season, hope you are getting some super youngsters for the EMPIRE CLASSIC TRIPLE CROWN.......................JIM

 

Sunday, Feb 28th, 2010.....YEA TEAM CANADA HOCKEY TEAM *************GOLD MEDAL************ Most fanciers have their breeding season started or about to start.

We have just placed 5 excellent GABY VANDENABEELE imports on the Alberta Classic Auction site. These are 5 top producers of HANS EIJERKAMP & SONS which are from their very best GABY VANDENABEELE and KOEN MINDERHOUD birds. They start at a very fair opening bid of $150 per bird. If you are looking for some top GABY bloodlines check them out at www.albertaclassic.net  Also don't forget our EMPIRE CLASSIC TRIPLE CROWN, everything is "full steam ahead" and

we are looking forward to another great year......................jim

 

Wednesday, Feb 3rd, 2010....pigeon fanciers have to be the worst for spreading rumors, the latest I heard was that we are not running the Empire Classic this year. Let me clear that up right now, "WE ARE HAVING A 2010 EMPIRE CLASSIC". Judy and I would like to thank our friends for their valued support and for the many words of encouragement we have received this winter. It is human natural for many to believe that a new One Loft will be run perfectly and everyone will be successful, WE know this will not be the case but it will take a year or two for YOU to realize that, all things considered, the EMPIRE CLASSIC is an excellent One Loft race. We have made a few changes which we hope you will like, for example, clocking order for all races and we have added a Empire Classic 200 mile race making us a TRIPLE CROWN format (200 mile, 350 mile and 420 mile) with prizes going to the birds with the best average speed over the three races. We will continue with all race and pooling information being posted ahead of the race. All race birds can be handled at shipping and you can see your birds scanned and placed on the trailer as well as a published basket list. We also will continue with a weekend of fun and socializing for the Classic participants. Check out our 2010 race rules and send us a reservation....................jim  

 

Wednesday, JAN 27th, 2010......the Auction of RUTTEN birds on IPIGEON went very well, we will be posting some more RUTTEN birds in the near future. Reservations for the 2010 EMPIRE CLASSIC TRIPLE CROWN are starting to arrive. We have changed the EMPIRE CLASSIC format to a TRIPLE CROWN format which includes a 200 mile race, a 350 mile race and a 420 mile race, check out all the details on our EMPIRE CLASSIC "HOME" page. Send me your reservations, no money needed until the birds are delivered. We look forward to another great Empire Classic and another great weekend of fun and socializing.............jim

 

Wednesday, Jan 6th......THEO & RAYMOND RUTTEN "imports" will be auctioned on IPIGEON.COM starting Sunday Jan 10th. Included in the sale will be "MISTER SPRINTER" winner 2nd against 11682 birds and 3rd against 2139 birds. "MISTER SPRINTER" is a g.son of the JANSSEN BROS famous "OUDE RAKET" and he is also a g.g.son of the "OUDE GEELOGER". Don't miss this wonderful opportunity to purchase the "Best of the Best".

 

Thursday, Dec 31st, 2009........HAPPY NEW YEAR and ALL THE BEST IN 2010..............................jim and judy

 

Thursday, Dec 24th, 2009.......MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS..............................................jim and judy

 

Monday, Dec 14th, 2009......Today we submitted our Empire Classic donation to the CANCER SOCIETY. This year was the largest donation to date, $2488, thanks for your outstanding support. This concludes all the Empire Classic business for 2009. This coming year (2010) will be a challenge for us, another One Loft has started in our area.  We would like to point out OUR "track record" in several key areas that we think are important when you are choosing a One Loft to enter. HONESTY, INTEGRITY and FAIR PLAY, it is very important that you and your birds receive fair and equal treatment to every other person in the race, that is one of the keys of One Loft racing. We have been in the sport for 50 years and although some may not agree with us on all accounts, I doubt you will find anyone that thinks we are not fair and honest. EXPERIENCE in the pigeon sport, as we mentioned earlier, we have been in the sport for 50 years and accomplished many things, especially in our own racing and breeding lofts. Each year and for most of our racing career we have been at or near the top of our Combine Racing Awards and our National CU Awards, these are recorded facts and we gladly compare these with anyone in the game today. EXPERIENCE in running a ONE LOFT, until you have run a One Loft you have no idea the multitude of problems that must be dealt with, almost on a daily bases, in operating a One Loft. Most think, "what could be so hard?" Well here are just a few examples. Keeping the birds healthy, minimizing losses due to health and loft and road training, keeping the participants informed, praying for good weather during training and on race day, praying for a perfect race day, not too hard BUT not too easy, praying that the clocking system works perfectly, hoping the birds are not "spooked" on race day and trap poorly, praying there are no mistakes with the money, praying an animal doesn't get into the loft, hoping the driver does not have a "breakdown" or accident on the way to the release point, hoping the chef and food arrives safely and on time, hoping everyone likes the condition of the birds on shipping day, praying there are no mistakes scanning and shipping the birds, hoping everyone has a good time on the Classic weekend. As you can see there is a lot of "hoping and praying". MANAGEMENT SKILLS, another very important aspect of running a One Loft,  I am not talking about just the Management of the birds BUT the general management of running this kind of event, it takes a great deal of skill to organize and plan this kind of function right from the obvious things down to the smallest detail. Managing in access of $200,000 right down to the penny is no simple task AND most importantly every penny must be accountable and open to scrutiny by the participants. All money must be itemized before the event not afterwards. We post ALL pool money, ALL prize money, ALL loft auction money, ALL shipping lists etc etc BEFORE the event. How many races have we all entered where you do not know how much money you have won until you receive your cheque in the mail. In the Empire Classic you can simply look at the Pool boards and Prize payout boards and simply add your own totals for your payouts. In our first Empire Classic (2006), a few days after the race, one participant  dropped by and Judy asked if they knew how much money they had won. We had finalized the Overall tally sheets but had not yet mailed out the information. The person was exactly correct to the penny, they had simply added up the information that was posted, prior to the race for all to see. Our track record for the percentage of birds going to the "main event" is excellent when you compare it to ANY OTHER One Loft, just check out the facts and then compare Empire 2006 (70%), Empire 2007 (82%), Empire 2008 (66%), Empire 2009 (65%) for an average of 71%, COMPARE THIS WITH ANYONE!  Another key item to look at is how we keep you informed, we post on our DIARY throughout the year an average of ONCE A WEEK, I know there are many that would like us to post every day BUT with us posting once a week COMPARE THIS WITH EVERY OTHER ONE LOFT!  One of the things I have learned in running the Empire Classic for four years is that YOU CANNOT PLEASE EVERYONE, each year you know that there will be several people not happy with the way the race went, either their birds did not do well surviving the health issues or they did not do well in the race itself. The winners ALWAYS tell me what a great race it was BUT the participants that don't score sometimes don't feel the same way. This is why many will try another race BUT believe me, EVERY One Loft will meet the same ups and downs that we have AND in the final analyzes we believe you will find WE DO IT BETTER THAN ANYONE. PLEASE submit your EMPIRE CLASSIC 2010 reservations to keep this great One Loft going, many thanks..................................jim   

 

MONDAY, NOV 30TH, 2009......Most of us have completed our racing programs and One Loft participation, it is now time to reflect on our accomplishments and perhaps add some key pigeons to our breeding program. Please consider two valuable sources for additions. THEO & RAYMOND RUTTEN have a super loft of pure 100% JANSSEN ARENDONK pigeons, they also race at the top of the Provincial and National races AND they maintain a small team of racers and breeders. You will not find Janssens closer to the FAMOUS JANSSENS champions then the RUTTEN pigeons. They have them, GEELOGER, MERCKX, RAKET, 019, STIER, VECHTER, PRINS, DONKERE etc etc. The RUTTEN birds are super handling and look great, like the old champions and they have super performance behind them. I have an outstanding shipment here in Canada which I will be selling privately and on the top internet auction sites. We have 9 birds on the Alberta Auction Site, go to www.albertaclassic.net  CHECK IT OUT!  Another excellent source is our own Jim McInnes (Empire Farm). Most know that we are at the top of the COMBINE RACING AWARDS (Champion Loft, Average Speed, Champion Bird) most years AND for the past 30 years. We also win many CU AWARDS most years, these facts are well documented in the CU Yearbooks. Many of our customers also have fantastic results with our breeding stock, many are the Champions in their respective Combines, to name a few, Joe & Trevor Smolenaars, Andy Pallotta, Bruce Bidon and Oscar Devries.  Our birds have excellent results in One Loft Racing, although we cannot enter our own EMPIRE CLASSIC many of our customers place offspring of our birds in the Empire Classic. Offspring of our birds have won many prizes in the Empire Classic including 1ST EMPIRE CLASSIC 350 and 1ST EMPIRE MARATHON 420. We usually don't send our own birds out to One Loft races BUT this year we did send out a few to support our friends, these birds did fantastic, check it out....2009 CALGARY PACIFIC MARATHON 420 MILE, we had one bird shipped to the race and we scored 1ST CALGARY PACIFIC MARATHON 420, this is a very hard course, 420 MILES ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. We had the ONLY BIRD HOME IN TWO DAYS and there were only 2 birds home in 5 days. We also entered the 2009 CANUCK CLASSIC, this was a very difficult race as well, most of the birds did not even make it to the race. We had 2 birds shipped to the race and we scored 11TH and 14TH, there were only 16 birds clocked in race time (2 days). We also entered the UPPER NEW YORK STATE DERBY (316 miles), this was a nice working race but not a smash, we had 2 birds shipped to the race and we scored 3RD and 9TH. This means out of 5 birds shipped to 3 different races we had ALL 5 BIRDS WIN PRIZE MONEY. These are the kind of birds you need for One Loft racing. We have a great selection of birds, including some GABY imports, available for sale, give us a call.......................................................jim

 

TUESDAY, NOV 10TH, 2009........****EMPIRE CLASSIC NEWS FLASH**** We have kept the Empire Classic format the same for four years, we felt consistency and familiarity are worth while qualities HOWEVER perhaps it is time for some changes. More and more One Loft Races are now available to the pigeon fanciers and to keep the interest of the pigeon fanciers we felt there was a need to give the Empire Classic a "fresh look". We have adopted some exciting new changes which we hope you like.  Here they are: 1) We will use CLOCKING ORDER not the drop system. Many people like the drop system and many people like clocking order. We have used the drop system for four years, now we will try clocking order. Many thanks to those that have supported us in the past even though you preferred clocking order, we hope those that prefer the drop system will do the same now that we are using clocking order. 2) We have initiated a TRIPLE CROWN format. We now will have three races, EMPIRE CLASSIC 200 (325 km), EMPIRE CLASSIC 350 (566 km) and EMPIRE MARATHON 420 (625 km). We will crown a EMPIRE TRIPLE CROWN ACE PIGEON.  3) We will still have a 5 BIRD TEAM ($1000) and a 2 BIRD TEAM ($500) but the difference is that all birds are eligible for the Empire Classic 350, NO ACTIVATION FEE REQUIRED, all birds on both the 5 Bird and the 2 Bird teams are paid in full with the initial entry fee. We have also set the perch fee at $75 per bird. These are the main highlights, for full details go to our HOME page. Any questions please get in touch with me. Don't forget "Remembrance Day" and our Canadian troops ......................................jim

 

SUNDAY, NOV 8TH, 2009.......The 2009 Empire Classic Auction is now over. Thanks to Karl Frank for once again doing a great job. All birds sold and the total was the highest prices to date. The Cancer Society will receive $2515, the largest amount so far. Payment and shipping charges must be received before we release the birds to you. Owners of the birds will receive their share of the proceeds when all purchases have been paid. Thanks to all those that bid on the birds, you have made the auction a huge success.  Several of you have asked if we are having a 2010 Empire Classic, YES WE ARE!  This year (2009) the numbers were down a bit, perhaps because of the economy, we expect the numbers to go up and down each year so we hope that was the case and we will be back up to the 800 to 900 birds levels. Next month we will post the rules and information for the 2010 EMPIRE CLASSIC. We will continue to post news on this Diary, so check us out from time to time................jim

 

SUNDAY, OCT 25TH, 2009.......The internet auction of EMPIRE CLASSIC birds is going well. Hope everyone has taken a look, there are some excellent birds still available at very reasonable prices. Also hope you understand how the auction ends. The official closing is Oct 28th (this wednesday) but the bidding on individual birds does not close until the final bid has gone 4000 minutes unchallenged. This means that several birds will continue beyond OCT 28TH as long as there is still bidding. This system means that no one will miss placing a bid, as long as there is bidding the bird stays available. Good luck...........................jim

 

TUESDAY, OCT 13TH, 2009.....Everyone should now have their "results package". Thanks for your support again this year. Most of the birds have been picked up, in fact there are just a few remaining, any birds not picked up by this weekend will be removed. Fortunately this year almost all the birds have been returned to their owners. I think more and more fanciers are beginning to understand the logic of breeding from an Empire Classic race birds. These Empire Classic birds have proven they have the "right stuff" to survive the One Loft environment and they have the "right stuff" to handle a modest training program and a jump from 200 km to 566 km. Most importantly they carry  a multitude of anti bodies because of their exposure to a vast number of health issues in the One Loft. These Empire Classic birds will pass on these anti bodies to their children which will give their children a better chance of surviving in future One Loft races. This is why it is very wise to breed One Loft birds from parents who have been in One Loft races. Our EMPIRE CLASSIC INTERNET AUCTION STARTS IN A COUPLE OF DAYS. Karl Frank is looking after the auction for us again this year, it is on his ALBERTA CLASSIC site. if you do not know the address you can get it from  this web site. Click on the "HOME" tab above and then scroll to the bottom of my Home page, you will see a banner link to the "Alberta Classic site", simply click on that banner link and you will go directly to the Alberta Auction site. All the birds will have a pedigree and a photo, the starting bid is $100 with bid increments of $25. the auction will run for approximately 2 weeks. Shipping costs is the responsibility of the buyer. We have held off until now to start the auction so that the birds could complete most of their moult, they look super and there are some incredible birds available. I am sure some will produce future Empire Classic money winners. As we have done in the past, 40 % of net proceeds go to the owner, 40% to Empire Classic and 20% to the Cancer Society.  GOOD LUCK IN THE AUCTION................................jim

 

 

SUNDAY, SEPT 27TH, 2009.......EMPIRE CLASSIC 2009 "RESULTS PACKAGE" IS IN THE MAIL.

 

Thursday, Sept 17th, 2009.......Al Gauvin is picking up birds Saturday afternoon, if you want your birds taken back to Woodstock please let me know and I will send them with Al. We still have lots of birds to be picked up, please make arrangements. Also we need pedigrees for the TOP 25, if we do not have your pedigree by the start of the auction you forfeit your share of the net proceeds. Please email me your pedigrees, thanks. I hope you have checked the prize payouts, they become official SUNDAY, SEPT 20TH........................................JIM

 

MONDAY, SEPT 14TH, 2009......The prize payouts, pools, money winners and tally sheet is published under the "RACE RESULTS" tab. These are unofficial until Sunday Sept 20th at which time they become official and we will start getting the results packages ready for posting. Please study the information and if you have a query please get in touch with me. If you math wizards are doing any calculations on the capitol money please remember that the 4 free teams in this years race do not contribute any prize money to this years capitol. By the same token there will be 2 free teams from this years participants for next years race but their capitol prize money gets paid out this year, it is not carried over to next year. The reason we do it this way is because they only get a free team (minus perch fee) if there is an Empire Classic next year, if we carried over their capitol money and there was no Empire Classic I would be stuck with excess funds and would have to go back one year and figure out how to distribute the extra money. Long story short, it is much "cleaner" to not carry over funds to the next year. Remember PICKUP YOUR BIRDS or make arrangements right away. Also please send in your pedigrees for the top 25 birds, we want to get the internet auction going as soon as possible. Thanks to those that have already picked up their birds. Busy day for returning birds from the 350, we had 12 come today including 2 together along with 2 barn pigeons, how about that, a drop of 4. This was the first day since the 350 that we had winds from the west, it sure helped them along. We know the birds were pushed to the west on race day, everything has returned from the west, not sure why they were off line but that is pigeon racing. Merv McIntyre is picking up birds for the Ottawa area, if you want Merv to pickup your birds please give him a call (613 623 3216) and also let me know the ring numbers so I can have the birds ready when Merv arrives.................................................jim

 

SAT SEPT 12, 2009.......NO MARATHON 420 THIS YEAR, thanks to all those that emailed or phoned with their 420 entries, we received quite a few but not enough to cover expenses. This means the $6000 we set aside for the best average between the 350 and 420 now goes into additional prizes for the 350. We will add 12 additional $500 prizes. Now two important items, the first 25 birds in the 350 go to the INTERNET AUCTION, 40% of the net sale go to the owner, 40% to Empire Classic and 10% to the Cancer Society. Owners of the first  25 birds must send a suitable pedigree to us for the auction, if you do not send a proper pedigree  you forfeit your 40% of the net proceeds and your share goes to the Cancer Society. I need those pedigrees within the next two weeks. The remainder of the birds can be returned to the owners at the owners expense. I would like these birds picked up or arrangements made by Sunday, Sept 27th.   PLEASE CALL BEFORE YOU COME OUT and also give me a list of birds that you are picking up so I can get them ready for you before you arrive. ..................jim

 

 

MONDAY, SEPT  7TH, 2009.......Day 2 for the EMPIRE CLASSIC 350 birds. I have posted the DAY 2 birds, we are now up to 131 birds, all birds arrived from the west (we fly from the north) just as the 1st day birds did. The birds were shipped in fantastic condition but for some reason they were pushed to the west and as a result they arrived from the west instead of the north. We do not know how far west they were pushed but I just had an interesting phone call, one of our Empire Classic

birds was reported in Chatham, Ontario approximately 400 km west of me. The bird arrived Sunday evening in Chatham which confirms that some of the Classic birds were a long way off course and had a long fly today to get back home. I expect a good many to arrive again tomorrow. CONGRATULATIONS again to the owners of the 20 day birds and especially congrats to the 3 birds on the first drop, JOE GABRIELLI (Niagara Falls, Ontario), DUHRA, COSSINS & VANDERLAAN (Calgary, Alberta) and CHRIS & CONNIE STEACY (Mallory Town, Ontario). I had trouble posting the day birds Sunday night because of my server but we did get them posted this morning, sorry for the delay. I will keep the clock on for the next two or three days and post the results each night. The race is officially over at the end of DAY 2 with the exception of the $500 winner take all pool, we will keep it open one more day, if there is no $500 pool bird at the end of day 3 we will return that pool money. I hope the "out of town" fanciers were able to follow the arrival of the birds with the video cameras, they were up and running on race day and again today. Now we must think ahead to the MARATHON 420, I wanted a minimum of 150 birds entered but I am willing to go if we get enough birds to cover costs. We have to make a decision by this Friday (Sept 11) whether it is a go or not, this means you have to let me know in the next couple of days if you want to test your birds at the Marathon 420. Please email me with you ring numbers of the birds you want to go to the Marathon, DO NOT SEND MONEY AT THIS TIME, I will make a decision this friday based on the response from you. My feeling is that any Classic 350 birds that arrived home DAY ONE, TWO or THREE are good candidates for the Marathon 420. In past years many 2nd and 3rd day birds scored in the top prizes at the Marathon. Last years winner was a 2nd day bird from the 350 even though we had about 150 day birds. PLEASE EMAIL or PHONE IN YOUR ENTRIES.............JIM

 

 

EMPIRE CLASSIC RACE DAY: LOFT AUCTION PAYOUT.......1ST = $ 4145       2ND = $2487     3RD = $1658

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE, DAY BIRDS WILL BE POSTED TONIGHT.

Sunday, Sept 6th....EMPIRE CLASSIC RACE DAY, birds are release, a perfect day, here is the release info:

2009 EMPIRE CLASSIC 350….release Sunday, Sept 6^th……… 7:15 am

Weather along the race course:

MATHESON : CLEAR, SUNNY, 5 km SOUTH WIND (Headwind)

ENGLEHART: CLEAR, SUNNY, 10 km SOUTH WIND

NEW LISKEARD: CLEAR, SUNNY, 9 km SOUTH WIND

TEMAGAMI: CLEAR, SUNNY, 10 km SOUTH WIND

NORTH BAY: CLEAR, SUNNY, 9 km SOUTH WIND

ALGONQUIN PARK: CLEAR, SUNNY, 9 km SOUTH, SOUTH/WEST WIND

BANCROFT: CLEAR, SUNNY, 6km SOUTH WIND

EMPIRE FARM (HOME): CLEAR, SUNNY, 10 km EAST WIND

GOOD LUCK!

2009 EMPIRE CLASSIC 350…..prize payout

1^ST ………….$ 32,000

2^nd ………….$ 12,500

3^rd ………….$ 6,500

4^th ………….$ 3,200

5^th ………….$ 1,500

6^th to 15^th …..$ 1,000

16^th to 31^st…..$ 500

Note: $500 prizes will be added from extra activated birds of the 2 bird teams.

 

ACE PIGEON

(Best average speed at the CLASSIC 350 & MARATHON 420)

1^ST …..$ 3,000

2^ND …..$ 2,000

3^RD …..$ 1,000

Note: If we do not hold the Marathon 420 (minimum 150 birds) the ACE PIGEON prize money will be added to the CLASSIC payout in $500 prizes added to the prize list.

 

 

Monday, 31st, 2009.....today was our 4TH OFFICIAL TRAINING RACE. A beautiful day, clear, sunny and a moderate tailwind. The winning birds did about 60 miles per hour speed. Congratulations to ANN MARIE & TOM SPRING on having the first bird through the trap and winning $500. Thanks to MIKE JARZAB who came along for the drive and took some great photos. Also thanks to Mike's wife BETTY ANNE who provided some "snacks" for the trip. Looking ahead at the long range forecast the weather looks great for the next seven days. Here is the agenda for the weekend. Saturday, Sept 5th we start shipping the birds at 2 pm. You can handle your birds but you must be in attendance to see your birds. The birds will be placed on the trailer in random order so to ensure that you get to handle your birds you must be here by 2 pm. You will also be able to pool your birds Saturday as well as Sunday morning. After the birds are on their way we will be serving Judy's famous Empire Classic chili and at 6 pm Saturday the Loft auction will begin. You can pre purchase your loft (team of birds) for $75 right up until the start of the auction (6 pm) after which all teams not pre purchased will be auctioned to the highest bidder. Sunday morning, race day, Sept 6th the owners of the team of birds can pool their birds right up until 11 am race day. Between 11 am and 12 noon anyone can pool or activate anyone else birds and pools not covered by the owner. We will then have a pre race catered meal and then wait the arrival of the birds. To enjoy the race we suggest you bring a lawn chair, umbrella etc. Also NO DOGS are allowed on the property. As we have done in the past three years we do not give out one or two meal tickets per team of birds as many "One Lofts" do, we like to see families attend and syndicates of flyers participate in the Empire Classic weekend. As you can imagine catered meals are very expensive so we have, each year, held a 50 / 50 draw whereby we take 50% of the proceeds to help offset the additional food costs. We hope you will help us out by purchasing a few 50 / 50 tickets. The 50 / 50 draw has been a lot of fun because the first ticket out wins 1/2 the cash in the pot and we keep drawing tickets until the draw table is empty. In the past we have had about 100 prizes in the draw. Most of the prizes are donated by generous fanciers who like to help make the Classic weekend a huge success. If you have any items to donate to the 50 / 50 draw table bring them along, they will be greatly appreciated. They do not have to be "pigeon items", any item suitable for any member of the family is welcome. John Froelich of PIGEON TV will be in attendance again this year. John will be bringing the "WORLD OF WINGS" pigeon museum with him which I am sure many will find interesting. RICK BROERE will be setting up a booth again this year selling pigeon feed from our sponsor "BADEN FEEDS" and Rick will also have many of his associated pigeon product available. Rick provided "HEALTH GUARD" for our Classic birds. I believe Rick will be providing a special discount to those purchasing his products at the Empire Classic weekend.  Thanks.....................jim

Friday, Aug 28th, 2009.......our 3RD OFFICIAL TRAINING RACE was held today. It was a good working race with the top birds flying just under 3 hours. Congratulations to CHRIS KUMAR on winning the race and $500. Also thanks to Mike Jarzab for coming along with me and taking a few photos of the release...............................jim

Tuesday, Aug 25th, 2009.....our 2ND OFFICIAL TRAINING RACE was held today, another good workout for the birds. Once again we clocked 47 birds ahead of the main group. Congratulations to CELIA & JOE VISSCHER of BC, they are the winners of $500. If you are sending pool money and activation money DO NOT send by regular mail, it will not get here in time, spend a few dollars and send by COURIER service. If your money does not arrive by race day it will not be accepted, no exceptions.........................jim

Monday, Aug 24th, 2009......we held our 1ST OFFICIAL TRAINING RACE today. The birds did well, they were released at 9:30 am and the first group of 29 birds arrived at 11:16. This group of 29 birds were about 15 minutes ahead of the main large group of birds. Congratulation to PETE AIELLO, BATTLEFIELD 3 on having the first bird through the trap and is the winner of $500. Good luck to all in the next training race........jim

Friday, Aug 21st, 2009.......hi all, I can see that if you don't hear from me in a few days or don't see a posted toss panic sets in. I have had one email simply saying "are the birds sick" another suggesting that we delay the race a couple of weeks. The birds look super, they are loft flying each day and are up and down all afternoon long. Training wise the birds are right on track. Each year they get about 20 tosses including the four "official training races", this year will be about the same. Since we are out to the longer tosses I only train about every 3 days, weather permitting, this year has been a challenge.  Monday Aug 17th the birds had a great toss, very hard but a good toss. We went 90 km, it was hot, hazy, humid and strong headwinds, the bird did great, unfortunately in my haste to get away I forgot to setup the clock so no posting. To be honest, with this toss and the great loft flying these birds could go to the 350 now without a problem. Today we tossed the birds but the weather closed in quickly and I had to retreat to a very short toss which I will post tonight. The 1st Official Training Race will be their next training toss, it will be from 120 km. I am very busy making preparations for the Classic weekend so everyone has a great time. My policy is to post on the diary when there is something to post, I have not the time nor interest to post telling you the sun is shining and the birds are singing. If there is news, good or bad, I will post a message, With me, no news is good news. Everything is on track, the birds look great. Good luck in the 4 Official Training races.......................jim

Sunday, Aug 16th, 2009.......some general information for your consideration. Accommodations for the Empire Classic weekend, if you have a trailer, rv, tent, moter home etc you can park them right on site at Empire Farm. Other available accommodation off site are, in Brighton, the Brighton Inn B&B (613 475 9706) and the Presquile Beach Motel (613 475 1010), in Trenton, about 20 minutes away is Holiday Inn (613 394 4855), Comfort Inn (613 965 6660) and Days Inn (613 392 9291) and in Cobourg, about 25 minutes away is the Best Western (905 372 2105). Some clarification on pooling, owners have until 11 am race day to pool their birds, from 11 am race day until 12 noon none owners can pool any bird pools that are not taken by the owner. Out of area participants must send their pool money by certified cheque or money order, sorry we can not take personal cheques from out of town. There are two styles of pooling, 10 to 1 pools and 50,30,20 pools. the 10 to 1 pools mean that there is one pool payout for every 10 pools collected. If we have 100 birds pooled in the $10 pool we will have 10 payouts of $100 each, the same applies for each dollar denomination. The 50,30,20 pool has only 3 payouts no matter how many birds are pooled, the first pool bird receives 50% of the pot, the 2nd receives 30% and the 3rd pool bird receives 20%. The other bird pool available is the $500 winner take all pool, if there are 20 birds pooled in the $500 WTA the first pool bird wins the pot of $10,000. All pools are progressive which means you can not go in the $100 pool and skip the 10, 20, 30, & 50, you must go in all the pools below. American fanciers should send their money at par to the Canadian dollar to make sure they have covered the cost of exchange, service charges and the difference between the buy and sell amount of the exchange rate. All surplus funds received by us will be return, so make sure you send more than enough to cover your pooling. There is one other pool and that is the Loft Auction, shipping night starting at 6 pm we will auction off all the teams of birds. Anyone can buy a team of birds at the Loft Auction, if one of the birds comes in either 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the Classic 350 the LOFT AUCTION owner wins the portion of the Loft Auction pot, the pot will be split 50%, 30% & 20%. The person that buys a team at the Loft Auction DOES NOT own the team of birds after the race. All owners can buy their team of birds before the Loft Auction for $75 (GST included), any team of birds that are pre purchased by the owner will not be auctioned off at the Loft Auction. Owners have until 6 pm shipping day to pre purchase their teams. If you are not attending the Empire Classic get your pool money in to me, as long as I have your pool sheet and money you are covered but you can phone or email me changes to your pools right up until shipping day. If you change your mind on some pools and you end up with a surplus your surplus money will be returned to you. Also if your bird that you pooled does not get shipped to the race your pool money will be returned.............................jim  

SUNDAY, AUG 9TH, 2009......good news, the video cameras are working!!! We got hit with an electrical storm a couple of weeks ago which caused us some problems but all are fixed and hopefully will be operating through our Empire Classic season. Birds are training well, looks like tomorrow is good so we will go for it. It is now time to think about bird pooling for the Classic 350. I will be sending out the pool sheets via email during the next couple of days, if you do not receive a pool sheet please email me and let me know. Bird pool money is due by Sept 6th at 11 am sharp. If you want to pre buy your loft for $75 we must have the loft money in our hands by Sept 5th at 6 pm. Please note that all bird pools are subject to the 5% GST (Federal tax), please add 5% to your total bird pool money. The $75 pre payment of your Loft auction already includes the 5% gst. Please make all cheques payable to "EMPIRE CLASSIC". Also we will only accept personal cheques if they arrive in time to clear our bank, we strongly suggest you send money orders or certified cheques. Your pool money will be refunded if a bird you pool does not go to the race. American fanciers should consider their USA dollar at par with the Canadian dollar, if you do not you will most likely not send enough money to cover the difference between the "buy" and "sell" amount of exchange and the cost of transaction of exchanging to Canadian dollars. Also the rates can change between when you send your money and when it arrives here at my Canadian bank. Any surplus money will be refunded to you, better to send extra than be short. On that point there are a few American entries that are a few dollars short because of the exchange rate, this must be paid prior to the race. Don't forget to keep checking under the "inventory" page for postings of the training tosses. ............................................jim

WEDNESDAY, AUG 5TH, 2009......another trainer posted under the "INVENTORY" tab. All trainers will be posted on the inventory page so keep checking under the "INVENTORY" tab, I will not be telling you every time in this diary that there is another trainer posted, you must keep checking yourself, thank you. I received an email concerned about the TRAINING 5 posting, they thought I had tossed the birds late and most arrived the next day, THIS IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED, i tossed the birds earlier in the day before I had the clocking system setup in the loft, after the birds came home I setup the clocking system and then let some birds outside to test the system. I restarted the clock system the next day and ran the rest of the birds through the traps to make sure everything was recording and to give you an inventory list, no birds were out overnight.  We are now on track, the clocking system is working well, I just posted today's trainer. The clock system for the trainer will only be left on for the day and then posted that same evening. Good luck to all ............jim

SUNDAY, AUG 2ND, 2009.......the CLASSIC birds are training well, we have had 5 tosses so far. The clocking system is up and running in the Classic loft so we will post all training tosses on our web site under the "INVENTORY" tab. You can go there now for the first posting, this will serve as your "inventory update".  If you do not find your bird they may not be lost, they may be late from a toss or they may not have gone to the toss because they are injured or set aside to receive some attention. Also remember that the birds are tossed in three separate groups so your bird may be down the list because it was released last. We will not do combined releases until we are out about 150 km. On another note, some of you have noticed that the cameras are not working, thank you for letting me know. We are working on this problem which seemed to have begun when we had a severe thunder storm. Hoping to get them working shortly. Keep checking the "INVENTORY" page for the posting of the latest training tosses. The most recent trainer will be at the top of the page, the previous tosses will be below as space allows. Good luck........jim

TUESDAY, JULY 28TH, 2009......the fun begins, we are now road training the Classic birds, they have been on two tosses so far. All is going well, birds look great, we will no doubt lose some during the road work but the vast majority will have no trouble handling the training. While we are at the shorter tosses I will go every day, weather permitting. Once i get out 80-100 km I will go every second day. I will move the computer to the Classic loft in a couple of days so that we can post the training tosses on the web site under the "INVENTORY" tab, this will serve as your ongoing inventory.  Hope everyone is enjoying the video cameras, you should be able to watch them return from the road tosses. Good luck to all...............jim

SUNDAY, JULY 19TH, 2009......sorry for the absence, been very busy with the Empire birds, my own birds, doing some haying and a bit of work around the house to keep the real boss happy BUT as the old saying goes "NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS".  Just to bring you up to date, the Classic birds look great and are flying fantastic. They are rambling away from home in various size groups. A few days ago Judy and I were on our way home from Brighton (5 km away) and spotted a group of about 400 birds on their way back to the Classic loft. A couple of days ago I let the birds out and by the time I got outside not a single bird was on the loft or anywhere in sight, scary but nice. Our training trailer is in the shop getting checked over (bearings etc), when it is ready to go I will start the road work. The video cameras are working super. I have had several people call because they do not know how to get onto the cameras so lets go over the method for accessing the cameras. Go to the Empire Classic One Loft "home page", near the top you will see the cameras and video cameras mentioned, "click" where it says "cameras and videos", the writing will be in a different colour. When you click this it will take you to a page that has the 3 video cameras identified as "LOFT 1" ( outside viewing the landing board and sky), "LOFT 2" (inside the loft looking down the front hall) and "LOFT 3" (inside the loft looking at the door of computer room, during training tosses the door will be open and you can view the computer screen). On this page you will also see the most recent still photos of Loft 1, 2 & 3. You will also notice it tells you the "user name" (racefan) and "password" (empire) you will need this info when you go to the next page, go to the next page by clicking where it tells you to play video "click here". The next page will ask you for the user name (racefan) and password (empire), after typing them in click "OK" and this will take you to the "LINKSYS" video page, at the top click "play video". You are now watching live video feed. You can move the camera up or down and side to side by clicking on the directional arrows on the left. If you video feed "times out" simply click on your "refresh" button at the top of your computer screen and your video camera will automatically come back. The birds are loft flying most afternoons through the week and Sunday afternoon. Once we start road training most training tosses will appear on the "LOFT 3" computer screen and I will post the results under the "INVENTORY" tab which will be your inventory of your birds. Good luck with the video cameras...................jim

 

Sunday, July 5th, 2009........the birds are looking great and loft flying most of each afternoon. More good news.......THE VIDEO CAMERAS ARE WORKING........I installed the new, high powered antennas today and they did the job. All three cameras are working well and streaming video to our web site. Cameras number 1 is mounted outside and views down the length of the landing board. You can view the birds while they are outside on the landing board and if you move the camera so that it is pointing toward the sky you can see the birds flying as they circle the loft. Camera number 2 is mounted inside the loft at one end of the front hall and views down the length of the hall. Camera number 3 is also mounted inside the loft and looks at the clocking system computer screen (there will be nothing to see here until we start road training). The birds are loft flown every afternoon except Saturdays, therefore cameras will be operating each afternoon for your viewing pleasure. Have fun..........................jim

 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 1ST.....HAPPY CANADA DAY.....the Classic birds are doing super, really loft flying well and just starting to ramble a little. We are now over the health issues, everything we have looks super. Three to four weeks of good loft flying and then we begin the road work. On another note, my grandchildren's soccer team needed a corporate sponsor so "Empire Classic Racing Pigeons" is sponsoring a soccer team. This is a really good way to promote the pigeon racing sport in a positive way.  At the beginning of the first game of the season we took a team photo with a basket of pigeons (photo 1) and then just prior to kick off we released the basket of pigeons (photo 2). The third and forth photos are close up shots of three of our players and the team jersey. The kids and parents were really excited about the pigeon release, in fact our team is the envy of all the other teams because we have a "really cool" sponsor. The team begins each game with a team cheer which includes "GO RACING PIGEONS" and at the end of each game the cheer includes "WINNING RACING PIGEONS". It must be working because the team is undefeated and in first place. If anyone wants a great way to promote racing pigeons and help out the kids sponsor a sports team. ...........................jim

...............PS..............for those negative types out there who are quick to spread rumors, the cost of the sponsorship came out of my perch fees not your prize money.

 

 

 

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009......I know you are all waiting for the first inventory. I have posted it on the "RESERVATIONS" page. The birds high-lighted in pink are "missing in action", all other birds now have an electronic ring and are loft flying very well. All future inventory lists will be published on the "INVENTORY" PAGE.  If your bird is "missing in action" it still may show up at a later inventory. The birds "missing in action" have either suffered from a health issue, been lost settling or lost during a fly away. As you can see from the numbers most of you did extremely well, congratulations and good luck the rest of the way....................jim

Monday, June 15th, 2009......all Classic birds are flying out, we ended with 646 birds. Yesterday all the doors and sections were opened and all Classic birds are together. From this point forward all Classic birds will have free roam of the loft and all Classic birds will be treated exactly equally. They will all be loft exercised together at all times.  I will start to program electronic rings for all the birds, when that is complete we will do our first inventory. Thanks again for all those that supported the 2009 Empire Classic..................jim

Saturday, June 6th, 2009.......all birds are now in the Empire Classic loft. Our total is 641 birds, down from last year BUT still a very good number of birds in light of the problems with our economy. Most One Lofts are down in numbers. Shortly I will post a revised prize list. The birds are doing well but are still in 5 different groups, we will have all birds together starting June 15th. Also shortly I will place the electronic rings on the birds and that list will be shown on the "reservations" page. The video cameras are working however I am replacing the two antenna which will improve the quality of the transmission............................jim

FRIDAY, MAY 29TH, 2009........LAST CHANCE FOR 2009......as you can see from the reservations list we are still getting new teams arriving and I know of a few more coming in this weekend. The deadline is Monday, June 1st, if anyone is a few days away from sending a team let me know and we will make sure you get in. PIGEON TV is sending a team Monday so they will be arriving a few days after the final day, if you are in the same situation send me a quick email and let me know.  We still have the birds divided into several groups and they will stay that way until June 15th, by that time every bird will be flying out. We will then open all the doors to the 10 compartments and all birds will have free roam of the loft. Also from that point on all birds will be treated exactly the same. When all birds are together and flying out we will program the electronic bands and provide the first inventory. All birds that are with us will be given an electronic ring and will be identified on the "Reservations" page. The "reservations" page will show the first inventory only, all other inventory updates will be done on the "inventory" page. ..............jim

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13TH, 2009.......the Classic birds are doing great, the health is still fantastic, so far no signs of any viruses. We have two groups loft flying, the third group will be out for the first time next Monday. We are presently building up the fourth group and the fifth group will be for the late comers. Every year I have fanciers ask me if they can bring their team after the deadline and each year I say sure. It is the one area where we deviate from the rules, it is in the best interest of us all to have more birds in the race. Also it give someone a break if they are having some breeding problems. Since I have had several inquiries about extending the delivery date and because we are down in numbers this year we have decided to extend the delivery date until JUNE 1ST.  So spread the word that there is still 2 1/2 weeks to get your entries to us. As you can see from the "reservations" page entries are still arriving at a steady pace, many of those entries are new and are not previously on the "reservations" page. This is great because it brings the total number of entries higher and higher. To date we have 609 birds, we are hoping to climb toward 700. This year has been a struggle for all ONE LOFTS, mainly because of the economy, but also because all One Lofts experience about a 20% dropout each year. This means each year we have to find 20% newcomers, this is a real challenge for Canadian One Lofts since we have such a small number of fanciers to start with. South Africa has the same percentage of dropouts each year but they can find the newcomers because they draw on the World pigeon fanciers. Our Empire Classic relies on the Canadian fanciers for their support. Thanks to all those who support our race and keep a large One Loft operating in Canada. Our supporters don't necessarily agree with everything we do but they realize everyone has different views of One Loft racing and it is impossible to please everyone.  Those of you sitting on the fence, you have another 2 1/2 weeks to get a team into this years Empire Classic. I am sure when you make an Empire Classic ckeck list of the  things you like and the things you don't like, the things you like will greatly out weight the things you don't like. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT..................................jim

MONDAY, MAY 4TH, 2009.......Classic entries are arriving at a steady pace, still lots of time and space to send a team of birds. The first group of birds (140) are outside and flying, they have kitted up and look great. So far the health of the birds is OUTSTANDING, if this continues we will be in great shape. The second group of birds are in the settling cages and will be out on their own next Monday. I am still working on the video cameras, I thought I could just turn them on this spring and everything would work, no such luck. I will call in an expert and get some help getting going. Talk soon..............................jim

SUNDAY, APRIL 26TH, 2009......very busy at this time, Empire Classic birds are coming in steady at the loft as well as the Airport runs. I separate  the birds into four groups until the middle of June, at that time all birds are in one group and managed exactly the same. We keep them in groups until then for several reasons, it is much easier to manage the health and treatment system, it is safer to settle and loft fly the birds so that younger ones are not out for the first time with birds strong on the wing. So far (touch wood) the health is great, there is no sign of viruses. Congratulations to those with birds already in the loft for sending good healthy youngsters. We still have most of the entries still to come in so we will hope for the best health wise. As expected we have many birds arriving who did not register, which is great, we will hope there are many more teams arriving that have not shown on the reservations list. There is almost 4 more weeks of delivery time which means there is lots of time to get your entries to us. And there is lots of space for more entries. It certainly looks like numbers will be down from last year BUT it will still be the richest One Loft in Canada and when I look at the US One Lofts I don't see any 1ST prizes as large as ours will be, even with the races that have large entry fees. So as they say in marketing "BUY CANADIAN" ....................................jim

FRIDAY, APRIL 10TH, 2009......Today was our first day of receiving birds for this years Empire Classic. The first to arrive this year was Joe Erwin from the Hamilton area. We received 52 birds on our first day. If you are delivery birds please let us know when you are coming so we can make sure we are home to meet you. If you have not reserved perch space it does not matter, just bring or send your birds to us. Band numbers and fees paid are listed on the "Reservations" page, check and make sure all info is correct. We only give one shot of vaccine for PMV so feel free to give your birds a shot at least one week before you deliver them to us. Also you can vaccinate for paratyphoid and treat for worms if you choose, DO NOT VACCINATE FOR POX...........................jim

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8TH, 2009.....Our first Empire Classic birds start arriving this Friday (April 10th). For those across Canada shipping birds by Air please ship birds via AIR CANADA to Norman Rogers Airport in Kingston, Ontario. There is one other option, if you are sending birds to Rick Broere for shipment to South Africa you can include your Empire Classic birds in your shipment to Rick BUT only if your birds are in the same box as your birds going to Rick for South Africa. DO NOT SEND JUST EMPIRE CLASSIC BIRDS TO RICK, ONLY SEND TO RICK IF THEY ARE IN THE SAME BOX AS SOUTH AFRICA BIRDS. Please try and ship your birds during the week if you are sending by Air, this frees up the weekend to receive birds at the loft  which is when most of the delivered birds arrive.  Thanks for your co-operation and support.........................jim

MONDAY, MARCH 30TH, 2009.......Hope breeding season is going well for everyone.  Delivery time for the EMPIRE CLASSIC birds is quickly approaching. This year we are accepting birds from April 10th until May 17th.  Joe Erwin from the Hamilton area is bringing his birds Friday April 10, anyone wishing to send their birds with Joe are welcome to do so. Please get in touch with Joe to make arrangements. Joe's phone number is 905 304 0284. Thanks for your help Joe. Also Bernie Bedard is delivering his Classic birds Friday April 10th as well. Anyone wishing to send their birds with Bernie please give Bernie a call at 613 487 2649. Thanks Bernie.  Reservations have been slowing coming in, I know many fanciers that are sending birds but have not bothered to reserve because they know there is lots of room. I believe we are going to end up with another good number of entries so go ahead and send your birds, we will have another good race with lots of prize money to be won.........................................................jim

THURSDAY, MARCH 19TH, 2009......spring officially arrives tomorrow, thank goodness. Weather is very nice, has been for more than a week and the forecast calls for good weather for the next week, with any luck we will have winter defeated. Just received a couple Digest magazines and I am amazed at the number of One Loft Races advertised, there are a few in Canada but a huge number in America and a few world wide. If you are considering sending  to one or more One Lofts you really have to do your "homework" and consider all aspects, especially financial i.e. which ones give you the "BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK". If you enter several ONE LOFTS we want our EMPIRE CLASSIC to be one of them, if you only want to enter one we want our Empire Classic to be your first choice. Lets take a look at some of the things you should consider when looking at One Lofts. In doing this comparison our intention is not to knock other One Lofts but to simply point out reasons that the Empire Classic should be your first choice. Canadians entering One Lofts outside Canada must factor in the additional costs of shipping birds to other countries and the vet fees and headaches involved in shipping birds abroad. Also make sure you factor in the exchange rate on foreign currency and the bank charges for changing your money to a foreign currency. All of these additional costs must be counted toward the cost of entering your birds. The Empire Classic and other Canadian One Lofts will save Canadians a great deal of added expense. We help eliminate these additional shipping costs for Americans sending to the Empire Classic by using our New York contact to get American birds into Canada and we pay all the expenses. Another important consideration is whether or not your winnings will be taxed. MONEY WON IN AMERICAN "ONE LOFTS" WILL BE TAXED, American One Loft organizers are required by law to issue tax requirement statements by the IRS. We are lucky here in Canada, your winnings are considered a "wind fall" and are not subject to taxes, the same as we see with winnings in Canadian casinos. Another big reason to choose our Empire Classic and other Canadian One Lofts. Americans entering our Empire Classic should also be happy to learn that their winnings will not be taxed in Canada. Now lets look at perch fees. Our Empire Classic charges $300 for 5 birds or $60 PER BIRD PERCH FEE, compare this to other One Lofts. Our Empire Classic entry fee is $233 PER BIRD which gives you a chance to win a 1st prize of $50,000, compare this entry cost and money to win with any other One Loft in the world. Backup birds can be activated for $105 PER BIRD and do not have to be activated until race day. No huge activation fees after you think you have spent all you need to spend with our Empire Classic.  Also you do not have to identify your primary entries until race day, many other One Lofts require you to identify your primary entries when you send your birds or just after training. Many One Lofts charge you 10% or 15% fee on all pooling and even race prize money, this fee goes in the organizers pocket. Our Empire Classic charges 5% tax which is a federal government requirement, no part of this tax goes in the organizers pocket. Our Empire Classic has a very respectable record for the number of birds shipped to the main event, 2006...70%, 2007....82%, 2008.....66% compare this to other One Lofts. Our Empire Classic posts news and updates on our "DIARY" section ALL YEAR LONG. We average about once a week and we are amongst the best at keeping you informed. Our Empire Classic weekend has become the largest pigeon social event in Canada, great hospitality, great food, great racing and a yearly payout of over $200,000. Each year we make improvements, the last two years we have added an EMPIRE MARATHON 420 mi, it is optional and has a separate entry fee but is becoming very popular. Last year we added video cameras so that "out of towners" can watch their birds return, not only on race day but throughout the time their birds are with us. Cameras are inside and outside the loft and the video is streamed on our web site. This year we will be experimenting with the GPS PATHFINDER tracking system. We are the Canadian rep for this system and we are looking forward to see where this takes us.  The Empire Classic has several ways for you to win money. The winner of each of the four official training races receives a cash prize. The owner of the Champion point bird at the four official training races receives a prize. The top 60 birds (depending on entries) wins cash prizes and Empire Classic diplomas. The top 15 birds (depending on entries) at the Marathon 420 receives cash prizes and Empire Classic diplomas. All birds on the 1st drop at the Empire Classic 350 receive our EMPIRE medallion and the 1st bird at the Marathon 420 also receives our Empire medallion. The four Champion birds with the best average speed at the Empire Classic 350 and the Empire Marathon 420 receives cash prizes. We sincerely hope you consider the EMPIRE CLASSIC when you are considering entering the ONE LOFT RACE EXPERIENCE..........................................................JIM

THURSDAY, MARCH 5TH, 2009.......nice day here in Southern Ontario, my breeders are down on eggs and my widowers are really keen to pair, most likely sometime next week. I have all the info on the THEO RUTTEN & SON breeders. They have 12 main breeding pairs and all the info is listed, breeding pairs, pedigrees and photos and the price for 2009 youngsters. ALL INFO CAN BE SEEN BY GOING TO OUR EMPIRE FARM "HOME" PAGE AND CLICKING ON "PIGEONS FOR SALE". We will bring in ONE SHIPMENT ONLY this summer. You can order ybs from any of the 12 RUTTEN breeding pairs on a 1st come 1st served bases. The prices listed include all vet charges, quarantine and shipment costs to EMPIRE FARM (Jim McInnes). You will be responsible for shipping costs from Empire Farm (Ontario, Canada) to your location. Please note that we offer a discount for 2 or more ybs. For example the purchase of 2 ybs get a 20% discount, purchase of 3 ybs get a 30% discount and the purchase of 4 or more get a 40% discount. Remember there is only a limited number of ybs available from each breeding pair so get your order in early, orders must be secured with a 20% deposit.  This is an excellent opportunity to get Janssens closely related to the WORLD FAMOUS CHAMPIONS of the JANSSEN BROS, birds like the "MERCKX", "GEELOGER", "019", "STIER", "RAKET", "VECHTER" etc. The RUTTEN breeders are also getting older so very soon ybs closely related to the JANSSEN BROS CHAMPIONS will no longer be available. Please make all inquiries to Jim McInnes @ email: jimmcinnes@xplornet.com  Also please make deposit cheques for RUTTEN ybs payable to: Jim McInnes.

TUESDAY, FEB 10TH, 2009......Update on GPS PATHFINDER......I have established the cost of the Pathfinder GPS in CANADIAN dollars. SINGLE UNIT PATHFINDER 5hr or 36 hr.......$325 Canadian,  TWO PATHFINDER UNITS........$590 Canadian, FIVE PATHFINDER UNITS........$1290 Canadian. These prices include all costs, shipping, wire transfer etc. When ordering two or five units you can order any combination of 5 hour and 36 hour units. These prices will hold for 3 weeks no matter what happens with the exchange rate as long as I receive and clear your cheque within that time period. If you wish to be included in this shipment please forward a cheque to me as quickly as possible. Please make the cheque payable to "Jim McInnes" thank you......................We have some further info on the good Canadian birds in the Sun City MDPR.........Hi Jim 136TH place won by CU 08 6999 owned by BJORN BJORNSON, sire is AU 06 NFL 1128 who is off Tom Nettis's "Indiana Jones" x his full sister "Blue Lass", both Cattrysse. The dam of CU 08 6999 is from Danny Kulis CU 06 33939, a Devriendt off his AU 96 OHF 6471 "The Hustler". Dam is IF 05 VIOLA 180.  "The Hustler" is sire to 9th SCMDPR I believe in 2003 or 2004. Best regards Bjorn..........Hi Jim, My bird, CU 08 FLAM 106, which was 275th in the final race and 1ST Canadian Grand Average, 75th overall, is a Delbar from a good line which has scored top prizes including eq 1ST Empire Classic 2006, 5TH Englehart, Sec 11 Open 2006, on the mothers side. Sire side is my foundation Devriendt, regards Danny. Good luck in the breeding season..........jim

 

FRIDAY, FEB 6TH, 2009......As promised I have some info on one of the top Canadian  birds in the SUN CITY MILLION DOLLAR RACE. The 306th place bird CU 08 CAL 2263 owned by MBI "Alberta Clipper" was bred by BOB DUHRA. Bob sent me a fax with the following info, I hope I have read all info correctly. 5TH HOT SPOT RACE....20TH (1ST Canadian bird...235 mi winning $1000. 306TH place MILLION DOLLAR 350 MI (6th Canadian bird). 117TH HOT SPOT AVERAGE (2ND Canadian bird Average) against 3867 birds. This bird was very consistent winning 13 times in the top 8 of Canadian birds as follows: 2 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 3 x 4th, 2 x 5th, 1 x 6th, 1 x 7th, 1 x 8th against Canadian birds. The sire is a direct son of "ROCKET COCK" (JANSSEN/TOURNIER) Dam is a daughter of our Best 500 mi cock 2648 when mated to "ROCKET COCK" and "QUEEN OF ACES" (JANSSEN/TOURNIER)..................I also received an email from Danny Kulis: Hi Jim, I first and foremost want to send out a big CONGRATS to MIKE JARZAB on his 20th place finish in the final race! Very happy to see the Canadian flag proud and true in the top 20 on a good hard race! All the Canadian birds that finished on the day are in fact victorious contenders, hats off to those flyers because these results have not gone unnoticed!!For the Canadian flyers that have had the opportunity to represent Canada in such a positive way you are an inspiration for all of us to try and do better each year. For all the fellow fanciers that stepped up to the plate and called Mike on his moment of joy, you are truly the "CHAMPIONS OF THE SPORT". I know Mike must have been thrilled to hear the good news! After all good news in hard times is always welcome, is it not? Let's not forget all the fine flyers that did so well in the Empire race this past year as well, great moments in time which will always be cherished...............................Note from Jim..... this "DIARY" is not a chat site and is not a forum for debating issues, it is mainly a vehicle for publishing news about our EMPIRE CLASSIC. HOWEVER other "noteworthy news" about the pigeon sport will be published from time to time, especially news that benefits and is in the "best interests" of the pigeon sport and its fanciers. We will do our best to only publish positive information that we hope will enhance your enjoyment of our hobby.........................................jim

 

SUNDAY, FEB 1st, 2009......The SUN CITY MILLION DOLLAR RACE is now complete. We had some good scores from some Canadian birds. CONGRATULATIONS to MIKE JARZAB (SPEK LOFT) with the TOP CANADIAN BIRD placing 20TH with his bird CU 08 SPEK LOFT 2. Unfortunately Mike did not activate his bird BUT he still gets bragging rights on breeding the 20th place pigeon. Placing 101st was CU 08 CAL 1014 owned by the CALGARY BOYS. Placing 136th was CU 08 6999 owned by BJORN BJORNSON - VIKING LOFT. Placing 204th was CU 08 MTN PAC 2819 owned by JANCAN . Placing 275th was CU 08 FLAM 106 owned by DANNY KULIS. Placing 306th was CU 08 CAL 2263 owned by MBI. Placing 335th was CU 08 SPEK LOFT 6 once again owned by MIKE JARZAB - SPEK LOFT.  There was a total of 3082 birds shipped and only 346 birds clocked on the day. These 7 Canadian birds listed were all clocked on the day. Well done!  MIKE JARZAB had a great race, he shipped one team of three birds, one entry and two backups, all three were shipped to the race, two clocked on the first day and the third bird clocked the next day. I am especially pleased with Mike's performance because most of Mike's birds are from my Hans Eijerkamp breeders. Mike's 20th place bird has a royal pedigree, the dam was purchased from us, she is a direct daughter of our BOURGES QUEEN who won 1ST DUTCH NATIONAL BOURGES for Hans Eijerkamp. After winning 1ST NATIONAL Hans Eijerkamp sent her to us so that we could sell direct children of a NATIONAL WINNER to the Canadian fanciers. She is a JANSSEN / VAN LOON cross. Mike tells me the sire of his 20th place winner came from DANNY KULIS and is a cross of his good DELBAR family and a HANS EIJERKAMP Janssen through us from the JONGE GENERAAL. Mike's other day bird, placing 335th is directly from an inbred JAMES BOND from us and a DEVRIENT from DANNY KULIS. If the owners of the other Canadian day birds send me some background of their prize winners I will be happy to publish the info on this DIARY. Send it by email to me, it doesn't have to be a full pedigree, just a little background on the bird. Once again CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CANADIAN PRIZE WINNERS...............JIM

TUESDAY, JAN 27TH, 2009......My friend, John Adams of Toronto, lost his wife last Saturday, the result of a massive heart attack. John's wife Olga was only 55 years old. John and I started in pigeons when we were young boys, both members of the Beaver Jr Club of Toronto. Our deepest condolences to John and his family.  Our web site has been revised and now should work with all browsers. The areas of the web site that did not like some browsers has been corrected, hopefully everyone will have full access to all areas of our site. Many thanks to Karl Frank and my web host provider for their expert assistance. In our efforts to stay on the "leading edge" of technology we our working on something very new and innovative for our Empire Classic One Loft. Last year we installed video cameras inside and out side the loft. It took most of the year but we did get them up and running by the Empire Classic 350. This year they will be on from the time the birds first arrive (April 14th) until our Marathon 420. Now to the latest news. We are working on getting a GPS TRACKING SYSTEM (PATHFINDER) for use with our Empire Classic race birds. This is exciting new technology in the pigeon sport. We are now the Caiadian representative for "PATHFINDER". As well as some experimentation with the Empire Classic birds we will be selling "PATHFINDER" to individual fanciers or other One Lofts managers. Briefly this is how it works, there is a small unit that fits on the birds leg or in a harness around the birds neck. This transmitter is rechargeable through the USB port on your computer. When the bird arrives home the transmitter is plug into the USB port of your computer and with the supplied software and google earth you get a video of the the flight path of your bird. The video, through google earth has a visual of the land scrape the bird took home, it has the exact path the bird took, the exact altitude the bird took and the exact speed the bird took on the way home and this info is recorded every second. By viewing this info you can see the line of flight your birds took, you can see if they stopped for a drink of water etc and you can see their various speeds along the way. You can see if they followed roads, rivers etc, went around mountains and through or around weather fronts. Very exciting stuff. There are two types of systems, one system has a battery life of 5 to 6 hours and records the flight path every second. The other system is for long distance flights and has a battery life of 36 hours but only records the flight info every 3 minutes. Both systems are the same price. You can view the detailed info on: www.pigeongps.com  All systems must be ordered through me, we will be ordering units in time for old bird racing and again in time for young bird racing. By ordering together we can save shipping costs which will be passed on directly to you. Contact me for info but first check out the web site: www.pigeongps.com very interesting.........................jim

 

SATURDAY, JAN 24TH, 2009........Hope everyone is surviving winter. Strange weather here, yesterday plus 2 and today -12. These kind of fluctuations in temperature make it difficult for those that like to breed early. No problem for me, I pair my breeders end of February and my racers 2nd week in March. Good news on my web site, it is fixed BUT THE NEW CHANGES WILL NOT WORK UNTIL TUESDAY JAN 27TH.  I was having problems with some of the browsers accessing the " Reservations" list and some of the rules on the "Home" page. The "Firefox" and "Chrome" browsers did not like something on those pages. I could not solve the problem but KARL FRANK, owner of the ALBERTA CLASSIC site came to my rescue. Karl spent some time and effort and solved the problem. MANY THANKS TO KARL. It is very gratifying to still find fanciers going out of their way to assist other fanciers. Thanks again Karl. Reservations are coming in steady but there are still a huge number of fanciers I know are coming in our race but have not sent their reservations. Please send me your reservations, there is NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED and by getting your name on the list you will help the race. New people who access the "reservations" list will be more likely to come on board if we all ready have a large number of reservations so please get your name on the list and help us out.........................jim

 

TUESDAY, JAN 13TH, 2009.........Hi all. I am having a bit of trouble with my web site. Some people are unable to access some portions of my site. The area causing the most problem is the "RESERVATIONS" page. Everyone is able to call up the page but some are finding there are no names on the reservations list, there should be about 35 teams listed. The problem is with the browser being used by some. If you are using msn...Internet Explorer, version 6.0 or 7.0 there is no problem, if you are using Firefox there is a problem. If you are not getting a list of reservations please email me and let me know which browser you are using so I can work on fixing the problem. If you are using a browser that will not let you through you can get  through by accessing my site using the MSN Internet Explorer system on your computer. Please do so until I find the problem. I can better address the problem if you check the reservation list and if it is not coming through for you PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH YOUR SYSTEM/BROWSER IDENTIFICATION.......................MANY THANKS.....................jim

 

THURSDAY, JAN 1ST, 2009.........****HAPPY NEW YEAR****................Judy and I would like to wish everyone a HAPPY and HEALTHY 2009. We are looking forward to another great EMPIRE CLASSIC. We have already started the "RESERVATION" page with several entries. We have several NEW teams and others who missed 2008 but are back in for 2009. WELCOME BACK! Each year we have a percentage of fanciers that do not come back the next year, this is normal for ONE LOFTS and it is the reason that we must work hard to get NEW FANCIERS each year. We are hoping to get back to the 900 to 1000 bird level but we need your help, please SPREAD THE WORD. There are many who may not have heard of the Empire Classic. Many fanciers out west are not CU members so do not get the CU year book or News letter, please let them know about our race. Also there are fanciers out there that do not race anymore themselves but still have a few pair of birds, One Loft races are ideal for these individuals to have a little involvement and fun, let them know about us. This winter at your club meetings organize a Club Syndicate for the Empire Classic, this is great fun for the Club and it also brings the Club members closer together. Another favour to ask, if you are joining us for 2009 please SEND YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW!  New people checking are web site will look at the "Reservations" page and if they see a large number of reservations they will be more inclined to get on board, help us out and send your reservations now, thank you. This year we do not require a deposit but if you want to send your payment in installments we will keep your tally on the reservations page, it will lighten the blow on coming up with the payment in one lump sum. GOOD LUCK with your 2009 breeding season....................................jim and judy 

 

WEDNESDAY, DEC 24th, 2008........MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS.......Have a safe and joyous Holiday with your family and friends. Please drive carefully and if you have some "Christmas cheer" please do not drive...........................jim and judy.

 

TUESDAY, DEC 16TH, 2008.......The  2009 EMPIRE CLASSIC rules and information is now on our web site, please check under the "HOME" tab. You will see that we have not changed a lot of last years rules but PLEASE READ ALL THE RULES AND INFORMATION on the HOME page. You will see that 2009 will have more money payouts for the EMPIRE MARATHON 420, 1 prize for every 15 birds entered instead of 1 for every 20 birds. We will also have more of the Marathon 420 birds going to the internet auction. We have also increased the number of EMPIRE CHAMPION ACE PIGEONS that we recognize. This is the award for the birds with the best average speed at the Classic 350 and the Marathon 420. Last year we awarded 1 prize of $5000 to the bird with the best average between the two races, this year we will have the top 4 birds awarded with cash prizes. Last year many people did not even know this award existed, please read the Empire Classic Rules carefully. Please also check the "DIARY" from time to time for the latest updates, news and clarification of Empire Classic Rules. The other change we made is that we are no longer requesting a deposit with your reservation, you can simply contact us and reserve your perch space, NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED. We still would like everyone to send us your reservation for space in the 2009 Empire Classic as soon as possible because we still can only take a maximum of 1000 birds and the first 1000 on the reservation list get priority. So please give us your RESERVATIONS NOW! All reservations will be placed on the "RESERVATIONS" tab, if anyone wants to send small installments of the total payments to us we will keep track of your payments on the "RESERVATIONS" list. We strongly in courage Team syndicates but we would like the syndicate to appoint one "contact" person and have that person send all entry and pooling money to us. Syndicates are a great way to get more people involved in this event which is one of our goals in continuing with this race. Another goal of ours is to have a great many fanciers from across Canada, especially fanciers that do not do a lot of winning in their own back yard, have their turn at winning a large sum of money in a Canadian pigeon race. We have already seen this during the first three years, each year we have different winners, many who have never come close in their lives, to winning this amount of money. Each year we hope to make more "dreams come true", if we do this long enough many fanciers will live their dream. SEND YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW, NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED .......................JIM

FRIDAY, DEC 12TH, 2008......JUDY AND I ARE BACK FROM FLORIDA, REFRESHED AND READY TO GO FOR 2009. We still have some 2008 cleanup with the EMPIRE CLASSIC AUCTION. The auction was a huge success, our gross sales were $11,675, net proceeds are $11,345 for 22 birds.  The cancer society will receive $2,269. A big THANK YOU to those that purchased birds and THANK YOU to the fanciers that bid on the Empire Classic birds. The fanciers that were able to obtain these Classic birds have purchased some excellent birds. Our Empire Classic attracts many of the top fanciers from across the country and they place their best in our race. These birds will no doubt produce future Empire Classic winners. We still have some 2008 Classic auction birds to send out  to the purchasers and a little money to still come in, when this is done we will send out the owners share of the net sale price of the auction birds. THE EMPIRE CLASSIC IS A GO FOR 2009, within the next week or so I will post the Empire Classic info for 2009, check us. Videos of the 2008 EMPIRE CLASSIC, produced by PIGEON TV are now available. You can order your Empire Classic video by contacting John Frolieh directly by email: john@pigeontv.com .  For those that like to follow our Empire Classic "DIARY" for the latest news and updates we will be back to updating the 'diary" on a regular time schedule. Talk to you soon................jim