News from The Northshore of Lake Superior!
News From The Northshore of Lake Superior
Been awhile since I hit the keys on this keyboard but we were in the
middle of a whole bunch of things. The middle of:
The Old Bird Race Season;
Building a New Racing and Breeding Loft;
Breeding young birds for my up coming Late Hatch Special;
and preparation for surgery for a new hip for yours truly.
Just haven't had time to get in and do my job in this arena.
So lets hit the Old Bird Race Season first. It turned out to be a very, very tough season with 40% of the Lofts, on the combine level, not making it to the end of the Season. The results aren't back yet but it was a three loft race for average speed between Vic Gunderson - Virginia, MN; Gregg Sjelin - Duluth, MN; and Les Riley - Spooner, Wisc. It all came down to the last race of the year, the Topeka, Kansas Mid-West National Classic. This is a Champion Maker and Back Breaker Race - as it is a 500 miler for the Spooner Boys and for the Duluth boys a 600 miler - and who ever gets day birds on this one usually wins Combine Average Speed. This years Topeka turned out to be another tough one, particuliary for the Northern Lofts with only three day birds being reported. Jim Stariha - Superior, Wisconsin had one and Mike Schmidt of Duluth, MN. had two. Les Riley and Ken Hayden of the Spooner, Wisconsin Club had nine birds make it back on the day in the 500 mile class which was no small accomplishment. The Average Speed Championship for Tri State Racers went to Vic Gunderson - he built a big enough lead to win it out right even though his main competitor - Gregg Sjelin - beat him on the Topeka National Classic. Congratulations Vic! The Lake Superior Combine Average Speed Champion is still out but I'm sure it's between Les Riley and Vic Gunderson.
Point two; the New Racing and Breeding Loft. With the encouragement of wife Eileen and the help of my tallented son in law Alan Birman and good friend and traveling partner, Ralph Anderson we started building a new loft in February of this year. It is now approaching my Hip Replacement Surgery date of July 8th and we are still working on that darn loft. I thought for sure that I'd have the loft done and the birds in it by the time I had to go in for this new hip but I found out, as many do, that when it come to building new things like roads, buildings, houses and LOFTS, what we plan on and what happens are usually two different things. We are progressing and I guess that's what counts.
Point three: Breeding young birds for the late hatch specials. Just got done banding afew more for the Late Hatch Special and they look like they're going to be beauties. The eggs that have been laid up to July 4th will be the ones allowed to hatch and be sold as the late hatch special young birds. In out neck of the woods the June and July hatch young birds are the ones that are sought out for the breeding loft as they are usually the best looking. Maybe it has something to do with the longer days of summer or the fact that they do not have to contend with the -30* temperatures of February and March - none less they look great and for that reason many lofts up here perfer them for breeding loft duties. Keep your eyes open as we will be placing our ads in the magazines in September for our Late Hatch sales and they are sold out with in a week after the ad appears. So order early.
Point four: Hip Replacement. Any one who has seen me try to get around lately know that it is definetly time to get a new hip. I was scheduled for July 8th but accidently slammed my fingers in the truck door which caused one of them to become infected. The surgon said that there coulkd not be any hip surgery as long as I was on antibiotics for the finger infection. Sooooo I must wait for one to clear up before I can start the other. Said all of this to let you know why I have not gotten to this NEWS LETTER.
Thanks again for letting me ramble on and hopefully the neat time I write it will be from my newly completed loft with my new hip on board.
Mike Schmidt
