July 18th 2009, myself and many members of the “Between The Rivers Combine” had the great opportunity to visit some of the top lofts in the St. Louis area. At a pigeon breakfast in early May, Charlie Klipsch (a member of the Mt. Pleasant HPC) and I discussed getting together to rekindle old times of when I used to fly in the St. Louis area. The idea of getting together grew into his club having combine members from my area spend a day visiting some of their lofts.

The Mt Pleasant Homing Pigeon Club started in the early 1900's and has operated nonstop ever since. They officially became chartered the second time in 1979. They have been a part of the Missouri Illinois Combine (MIC) since it began in 1957.

They are fiercly competitive within their club as well as enjoying a great comradary and social atmosphere. They have cookouts once in a while , have their own training trailer and their our club facilities.

Members from my area gathered at a local restaurant in Greenville Illinois and we convoyed first to the loft of Charlie Klipsch. Charlie greeted us with coffee and doughnuts. We were welcomed into his loft and allowed to handle some of his key birds. Charlie is well known for his eye sign expertise and shared many of his tips with us. A perfect demonstration of well trained droppers turned many of heads as the birds flew directly to the landing board and ran in.

The next stop was the loft of Henry Marganski. After crossing a foot bridge that spanned a winding creek behind Henry's residence, a cozy well kept loft was nestled on a hillside. His young birds were out flying at the time and we watched with great pleasure as they zoomed by. Henry informed us of the challenges of having a small creek so close to his loft.

Wayne Plumlee was next on our tour list. For years I have seen Wayne’s Gateway Loft at the top of the race sheet. He is always in the running for best average speed in the combine and I can’t think of anyone who has won it more often. Two rather small lofts rested in his well manicured back yard. I was shocked he had such great success from such a small setup. The birds rested peacefully in their perches as we all looked in. Wayne spoke to us about how he medicates, feeds, trains and so on as we all listened closely.

Last but not least was the loft of Ken Stratman. Ken lives in a more populated are of the city and as we shuffled for parking spots along the busy roadway in front of his house, I pondered the challenges he must face when racing from this location. As we entered his backyard I observed two small lofts perfectly blended into their surroundings. Unless you were looking out the back of Ken’s house, you wouldn’t even know pigeons were on the property. Being from a very rural area, I find it amazing that such a good flyer could race from such a populated area. As we entered the loft we all signed the guest book. It was clear to see that Ken implemented many of the AU recommended Loft Registration Guidelines.

Finally we all ended up at the Mt. Pleasant Clubhouse. A great meal was thrown for us and we drew the final cards for our impromptu poker run. As usual I didn’t win. We all walked away from the trip with many new ideas about loft construction, training etc. It seems every time I visit some ones loft I get new ideas that make my hobby more enjoyable. I don’t care who you are, you can always learn new and better techniques. Sometimes we forget, if it wasn’t for the great people in this silly sport of ours, we would only be racing against ourselves. Always try and reach out to others if they will accept it.

Nice regards, Chad Compton (Gray Fox Loft)