Birmingham Rollers
As a high school senior in 1967, I began corresponding with the Roller pioneer and ambassador, William H. Pensom of California. He eventually sent me one pair of my first true performance Rollers that summer. But Bill passed away in 1968 before I could add any more from him.
So I turned to Stanley Plona of Connecticut in 1969 and bought three pair of foundation birds, including the 13030/69 son from the first YB crop of the eventual famous breeder 11315/68. In early 1978, during one of my visits to Connecticut, I added a super niece of 11315. This was the 18345/77 “Dynamo” hen. Stanley passed away unexpectedly in late 1979 and his widow, Wanda, asked me to come to Connecticut to handle the dispersal of the loft. I did that and also brought home the 11315/68 cock, as well as the parents of 18345/77. These were 11228/70 (full brother of 11315) and his mate 18736/75. In the middle 1990s I made the acquaintance of Bill Schreiber of Portland, Oregon, an accomplished breeder for more than 60 years. He shared some of his finest pigeons with me. And I looked to him for advice for many years before he, too, passed away. In the course of trying to build my family, I also added a few key birds bred by J. LeRoy Smith, Chandler Grover, Bruce Cooper and Joe Borges. After the 2001 flying season of the Wisconsin Flying Roller Group, I stopped competing for more than a dozen years. The Racing Pigeons took the majority of my pigeon time (and I also moved twice). But in 2013 I decided to actively return to the hobby and test a group of new breeders from my “old family.” I am doing that and looking forward to competing again beginning in 2014. There has been tremendous progress in the breed in the past decade. Beginners and veterans in the hobby now have access to very high quality birds from many sources. If possible, visit the potential seller of your foundation stock several times and see his/her birds in the air. Then you will know if you can commit to that family. Expect to spend at least 2-3 years building up your own breeding team. We do not have any birds for sale. Our admiration for the breed continues and we compliment all those individuals who have moved the breed forward. |