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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 25 January 2007
The Journal has long been an important part of the pigeon sport in this country. It is a vehicle by which all pigeon fanciers can learn and hopefully improve their pigeons and performances, acknowledge the performances of others, express views and ideas for the future development of the sport, and keep up to date with the goings on of the pigeon fraternity. These in my mind are the four principles on which the success of the Pigeon Journal have been built. With my assuming the editorship it is my intention that these principles and purposes remain intact. All members of the pigeon community are welcomed to and encouraged to submit items for publication regardless of who they are or what their affiliations may be, however, the Journal is not a place to conduct slanging matches, smear campaigns, make personal attacks, or gain political advantage. The Journal has always had integrity and I intend to ensure it remains that way.
Each monthly issue of the Journal is a team effort and although the Journal will have a new editor, it will continue to be backed by the same talented team of authors so you may rest assured you will continue to receive the same high standard of publication. Richard also will remain an important part of this team, continuing to have an input on the publication. He will also be returning to writing articles for the magazine which I am sure will please many of you.
For those who don’t know me, I’ve been involved in the sport of pigeon racing practically all of my life, getting my first pigeons at the age of 7. My dad raced pigeons (and still does) and so it was probably inevitable that this would be the sport of my choice. I first raced in my own right in 1993 with the Goulburn Valley Pigeon Club, I won 2 races in 1994 before moving to Bendigo to attend university. After the completion of this study I moved to Melbourne to seek employment.
It was during 2000 that I began development of the software package "Pigeons Progress for Clubs" which grew quickly in popularity and is now used by a large proportion of clubs and federations throughout Australia and New Zealand and as far away as the West Indies. The natural progression from there was to move to loft management software and so development of the "Pigeons Progeny" loft management software began in 2001. This system rapidly grew to become one of the premier systems available anywhere in the world and is now used by many big name flyers both in Australia and abroad.
With this involvement in pigeon software it was only a matter of time before I returned to racing and so joined the Victorian Homing Association’s Box Hill Club in 2002. I flew 3 seasons with the VHA with the highlight being a cock which was placed 10 th VHA Mildura two weeks in a row in 2004. The 2005 season saw me back in Shepparton and it was about this time I began to get the hang of this pigeon racing caper, winning the club 10 times for the year along with the aggregate. Season 2006 hasn’t been quite so easy but I have managed a couple of wins with the highlight of the year so far being 1st in the Gurnayville North-Eastern National.
It was a conversation with former VHA secretary Henry Marciniec late in 2004 which led me to take Herman Brouwers publication "The Directory of Australian & NZ Pigeon Clubs" and turn it into "The Directory – Australia’s Year Book". Little did I realise how successful the year book would become or where it would take me in such a short period of time. It was with terrible shock that I received the news of Richard’s ill health and an even greater shock that he wanted me to take the editorship of the Pigeon Journal. After consideration I accepted Richards offer and will be very honoured to continue the work that he and Bill Wells began.
I have always enjoyed reading the Journal and am sure I will enjoy putting it together just as much. The Journal has enjoyed a reputation for being one of the best pigeon magazines in the world, and with your support I am sure that will continue under my editorship and the Journal will continue to be enjoyed be everyone for many years to come.
Happy Reading
Jeff Howell - Editor |
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