Parkinson L.J.
I very often wonder how younger members get involved in pigeon racing so I thought I would use this week’s notes to cover a comparatively new member to this excellent sport/hobby of ours. As many will know I have now known the Rigole family for many years and have visited them most years, unfortunately last year was not one of them because of time. I knew Frans before Guillaume was involved in the family so have known him from the start. He has come a long way since young Leen, Frans’s daughter, would leave the room to have words with Guillaume on the phone. I think at the time Frans was a little protective of his only child but it turned out to be a good move in the end for all the family. With this in mind I decided to send Guillaume a few questions.
Guillaume Vanneste
(Q) How did you first become involved with racing pigeons and how long have you been involved to date.
(A) I have been involved in the pigeon sport since I met my wife Leen Rigole, who’s the only daughter of Frans Rigole now my father in law. The interest in the pigeons came very quickly by first starting to clean the lofts, feeding the breeders and helping on some exhibitions in Kassel, Dortmund to do some translations for Frans and Gust. 3 years before married with Leen, I went to visit all the pigeon’s shows abroad as I was interested in pigeons and all the different nationalities and pigeon fanciers from different offspring. Once married, the connection became more intensive with Frans my father-in-law, who’s has a special personality in our sport with some exceptional skills in breeding and coupling the pigeons on the breeding loft. From there on, I assisted all the shows abroad with Frans and we started to attend pigeon exhibitions in France, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Romania, Slovakia etc. After a while some foreign delegations asked me to help them to visit other lofts in Belgium, Holland and Germany. Nowadays next to my fixed job in industrial kitchens, I am co-organiser with Kortrijk Xpo to organise the International pigeon show Fugare in Belgium. The other big change was in the name of the partnership together with Frans we changed the name Taveirne-Rigole to Vanneste-Rigole as the new introductions on the breeding loft has been done between us.
(Q) What do you do for a living and to what extent does this affect the time you spend with any part of pigeon racing.
(A) I am a graduated Hotel-manager and after a period being very busy in the catering Industry at Kortrijk Xpo, nowadays I am Sales Manager and Designer of Industrial Kitchens in Belgium. Nowadays, I help people from other countries in selecting the birds of Europe they want to buy and together with my Frans Rigole we are fully busy in breeding and selecting of racing pigeons at our breeding loft.
(Q) Are any members of you family involved in pigeons past or present.
(A) When I was a little boy I had for 3/4 years a pair of white fancy pigeons in my garden to which a was very addicted too. On my father’s side we are related to Mr Henry Vanneste of Feluy, who’s a great champion in the long distance sport.
(Q) What made you want to get involved as a major player with the Fugare Show.
(A) In 2007 after visiting the Olympiad in Oostende I was impressed about how dynamic such a show could have in Belgium. On that time I worked as Catering Manager in Kortrijk Xpo and on a day all the team members of Kortrijk Xpo were put together and everybody could enter 3 ideas of making an exhibition. From that moment, I caught the interest of the management of Kortrijk Xpo and they asked me to work out the idea. Some months went by and the show was born, after 6 years of hard work in Kortrijk XPo I decided to change Job because I became father for the second time and I wanted to give some more time free for my family. After 1 week changing from job my old colleagues asked me to start up a new international fair about pigeon sport in Belgium. Fugare was born, and after many energy and time, I am very satisfied that nowadays we have a pigeon show with international exhibitors and pigeon fanciers in Belgium.
(Q) Do you travel to many shows outside Belgium if so which are your favourites and why do you go to them?
(A) Every year I attend shows in Germany Kassel and Dortmund, Poland, Croatia, Hungary, France and Holland. I attend all these fairs during the year to make Fugare as much know by pigeon fanciers abroad. On some exhibitions I also attend the shows with a stand to show the quality of our birds from our breeding loft to the fanciers. We are fanciers that want to show the quality of the birds first and in a next step look to the pedigree. We find it very important that pigeon fanciers can feel and look to the shape of the body first.
(Q) What drives you forward in the sport?
(A) Beside the lovely pigeons and pigeons with racing results, I like to be in touch with people from all kind of nationalities and I enjoy to visit them to their houses/breeding and racing loft to share habits, ideas, manners of racing. At that moment you are not travelling to an all inclusive resort but the feeling you have by visiting people all over the world gives you so much appreciation and believing in them. It’s so cool to meet other cultures, habits, rich or poor, through the sport everybody can compete against each other.
(Q) You are currently more involved in the administration side, would you like to race pigeons yourself and if so what would your aim be.
(A) Following to my fixed job and the time spend on administration; nowadays it is very difficult to race pigeons. But one day for sure I will try it out, some fanciers told me already, if you see coming for the first time your pigeon from a race you will be addicted to it, that’s maybe the reason I wait until I am ready for it. But for sure, pigeon sport is a passion and a hobby before all.
LJP. It is people with so much enthusiasm that we need in the sport to drive it forward but they are few and far between, we need to encourage these people as much as possible to make sure pigeon racing continues as a sport/hobby. What I have noticed is how well Guillaume handles a pigeon for such a comparatively new member to the sport and his knowledge is growing at a fast rate which I put down to his determination to succeed. I have been to lofts and seen it at marking stations where long standing fanciers are not brilliant at handling pigeons I think it is a confidence thing with some. When it comes to work within the sport I understand that the majority of fanciers just want to come along and enjoy their pigeons but as we so often see the workload falls on a few. I was talking to Mark Smith who is a good worker for pigeons locally about the ETS and he was saying that after many emails he was no further forward with getting hold of the code for the system. With having a demanding full time job he finds it hard at times to achieve the results needed for everything to run smoothly and delays such as this are unnecessary. The problem is there are always a few who the rest rely on to get the jobs done and this applies to all interests’ not just pigeon racing.
Frans Rigole and son in law Guillaume Vanneste
Les J Parkinson. 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 0NJ. Tel 01606836036 Mobile 07871701585.
Email;
Web site www.elimarpigeons.com
