July/August 2026

47 – Purebred PIGEON Larry LaGesse, AMost InterestingMan Mike McLin – Rice Lake, Wisconsin In the pigeon hobby we meet a very large number of people: men, woman and kids that share our passion. I have many friends in the hobby but Larry LaGesse has been a very long time buddy. I’m sure many of you have one or more of those guys or gals that you have spent a lot of time with and traveled to shows with for many years. Larry is that guy for me. I can’t imagine how many bands we have slipped on the birds since we started. We both shared a passion for pigeons since our youth with different paths and a lot of different other animals both having game farms with peafowl, pheasants, ducks, turkey, chickens, geese, quail and just about every interesting creature both domestic and wild that was available at that time. We both showed poultry and pigeons with Larry going ahead with his ducks and geese, too. Many birds were exchanged over the years and sometimes something I had interested him, and vice versa. We traveled to a lot of shows together like good friends do, and I miss that part of it as Larry’s health issues got to the point where all but the pigeons have found another farm to reside. I still enjoy picking up birds for him at the shows and we sit and gab about the birds over coffee these days often reminisc- ing over critters we had back in the day. As the times change I was lucky to be in the hobby with some of the greats, incredible large shows with almost all the breeds of the time represented, and still have friends like Larry and so many others that have that common bond to enjoy our great hobby. The prizes get thrown in boxes eventually but the friend- ships we have endure. Enjoy your birds !• RichardBrooks – 96YearsWithPigeons By Joe Bronner Many of you know or at least know of Richard Brooks. He has been a successful showman and breeder of American Show Racers for decades. He said he loved every minute of the time spent with the birds which started as a young boy of 8 and ended about one year ago, at age 104. Richard mentioned parallels from breeding cattle to breeding pigeons and he had what I believe he called “stock sense.” Somehow, he had a better sense than most of us as to what a pair of pigeons would produce. This sense helped him breed top pigeons over the decades and he produced many show winners. Richard said that he enjoyed his accomplishments in the sport but the friendships he gained were priceless.  He thinks fondly of those relationships every day.  Bill Schlieper and Bruce Rodegerdts did a split mating and they raised a beautiful red check hen, #585. She went on to breed many winners for Bill and Bruce. After Bill passed, I inherited the #585 hen and some of her offspring. Richard wanted some birds from that blood line, so I sent him four in 2017. Richard told me that one of the four, the #634 red bar hen, was prepotent and that she made a significant impact in his loft. In 2019, Richard sent me four birds that he had raised off the birds that I sent him. Those birds made a big impact in my loft as well, improving my head, beak and neck quality. Especially, #24 red bar cock off of the #634 hen. Many of my show winners over the last few years were off of #24. We are both happy with how much we gained from our partnership. I will also point out that working together is just more fun, a split mating together gets you commu- nicating, checking on how the pair is doing, even sending photos of the resultant young birds. It adds another dimen- sion of pleasure to our hobby. When I was young, my Dad and I drove 5 hours south to visit Richard when he lived in Camarillo, CA. I learned a lot, got some good advice and came home with a beauti- ful black check young hen that had one white tail feather. That bird produced some good pigeons for me, and it began a long-term friendship that has lasted for decades. Richard is currently in a very nice, assisted living facility in Medford, Oregon, close to many members of his extended family.  Between the local family members, he receives 3 or 4 visits per week and there are always pigeon stories to be heard.  He mentioned being proud to be the oldest resident. There is another veteran there, age 102, and I’m betting there are many good stories being told. Richard is excited to tell everybody that there was a new arrival in the family on December 31st.  His great grandson had a baby boy and this is only the second boy born in the family in 30 years.  Richard is a great-great grandpa six times. I’m sure that Richard would love to hear from you. His hearing and vision make the phone and email difficult, but you can send an email to his granddaughter, Traci, (tracildugan@gmail.com ), and she can read it to him. Thank you Richard! — Joe Bronner