Voormezele, a suburb of Ypres where the war history is still prominently present in the landscape. Here, Melvin Florissoone settled in 2016 with his wife Elyse and their son Mathis (2 years old). Coming into contact with pigeon racing early on through Uncle Karel Sarrazin, Melvin immediately saw the opportunity to create a pigeon loft from the existing rear building at his new residence. The goal was sprint races, and Melvin reached out to Daniel Cappelle (Westouter), Nico Degroote (Ypres), Platteeuw D & D (Ypres). Several local speed specialists also visited Melvin. The “mayonnaise took” and Melvin quickly strung impressive results together. In 2018, he was already 4th general champion in the West Flanders Youth Club, especially driven by BE18-3078539 “Elyse”.
2019 arrived, and the question was whether Melvin's pigeons could confirm the good results of the previous year. And they certainly did! Especially the youngsters charged through the season with leading bird BE19-3111870 “De Groote”, this star flew among others
Fontenay 2/291
Clermont 4/372
Fontenay 17/773
Fontenay 50/1990
Clermont 20/696
and was flagged as the 3rd provincial ace pigeon among beginners.
In 2020, the pigeons confirmed their qualities with several impressive results such as
Clermont 202 youngsters: 5, 7, 19 (3/5)
Fontenay 143 youngsters: 1, 8, 9, 12, 13, 21, 42, 43 (8/10)
Fontenay 211 youngsters: 2, 4, 6, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 32, 36, 38, 43, 62 (13/20)
In the provincial ace pigeon competition for speed, this resulted in a 5th place among the youngsters. At the end of that year, he went to Beveren-Leie to Chris Debacker to bring in reinforcements with the intention of gradually starting the longer races. This promised him eggs in April 2021, allowing Melvin to let the young born from these eggs gain some experience later in the season.
2021 began, and the level received yet another boost. A young pigeon from “De Groote” x “Elyse” flew like the wind. This blue male BE21-3110636 was named “Boas” and flew 12 times in groups of 3 including 9 times in groups of 10. With this series, he became 2nd provincial ace pigeon KBDB young West Flanders and 1st provincial ace pigeon KBDB young among beginners.
In the final races, the youngsters from Chris Debacker's eggs showed their skills and one quickly flew a 1st and 2nd place together. Some top results from 2021 :
Chateaudun 5-12-21-22-25-30-32/136 (7/8)
Chateaudun 5-11-13-16/84 (4/5)
Clermont 1-2/1234 (11/15)
Fontenay 1-5-7-10-31-34/147 (6/8)
Clermont 1-3-9-13-19-21-24-25-26-31/104 (10/10)
Clermont 4-17-30-41-43-78-97-103/334 (8/12)
This gave confidence to give them a chance the following year in the middle-distance races.
2022 arrived and the tension was palpable. The speed was not given up, but the new challenge to shine in the middle-distance races brought its share of excitement; could the new acquisitions perform in the races for which they were brought in? The season start with the widowers was quite okay, but the expectations in the Florissoone household were sky-high. This led to a feeling of just missing out. The early pigeons may have been lacking but the prize percentage was quite good.
16/4 Clermont 6-7-8-18/80 (4/5)
30/4 Clermont 13-19-44/259 (3/5)
7/5 Fontenay 2-3-50-58-77/256 (5/10)
14/5 Orleans 6/192 (1/1)
14/5 Orleans 8-11-94-104/441 (4/4)
14/5 Pontoise 15-24-72/338 (3/3)
“De Wittepen” turned out to be the best widower in the speed category with the following results :
Clermont 21/1611
Arras 12/637
Clermont 85/2408
Pontoise 7/149
Clermont 8/117
Clermont 6/80
This male comes from a brother of “Elyse,” who is in turn the mother of “Boas.” Just to show how closely related everything is and what a strong lineage this is.
The first middle-distance races were approaching and with the following results, we can certainly speak of a successful transition.
Chateauroux I 3-24-25-26/80 yearlings (4/5)
Chateauroux I 9-40-54-67-78-79-80/302 old (7/8)
Argenton 43-70/331 old (2/3)
Issoudun 6-31/153 yearlings (2/3)
Chateauroux II 4-5/103 yearlings (2/4)
Chateauroux II 10-11/267 old (2/4)
Especially the male BE21-3110634 “Lieven” had a significant share in this. Already as a young pigeon, this strong male flew a 1/1234 Clermont and then as a yearling accumulated the following palmares:
Chateauroux I 9/302
Chateauroux II 6/258
Issoudun 6/153
And then it was the youngsters' turn.
Starting with 35 young ones, after 8 weeks already down to 20 selected. It shows how high the level in the loft must be. But the results followed as well. Melvin was with his young pigeons more than ever found at the top each week. In their first race, it was immediately a success. A double victory at Arras, against 163 youngsters. The following week again good for a second place, and so the train had left the station. After 8 weeks in the sprint with the youngsters, Melvin had never been out of the top 2. A unique achievement that many pigeon enthusiasts can only dream of.
28/5 Arras 1-2-9-12-20-21-38-40-42-51/163 (10/32)
4/6 Clermont 2-7-8-44-53-56-61-64-73-77-88/294 (11/31)
11/6 Clermont 2-3-9-14-31-43-45-65-73-79-80-84-92-114-118/380 (15/30)
18/6 Clermont 1-9-9-18-19-27-30-34-34-36-37-42-45-62-76-80-83-99-112-113-121-127-144/438 (23/30)
25/6 Clermont 1-6-17-18-19-20-21-28-31-56-59-83-94-104-128-136/419 (16/29)
2/7 Clermont 2-5-42-53-54-85-106/593 (7/9)
9/7 Clermont 1-23-43-63-101-130/568 (6/6)
9/7 Fontenay 12-44-53-57-59-133-138-150-181-216-219/689 (11/14)
16/7 Clermont 1-2-7-34-103/521 (5/6)
23/7 Clermont 2-5-9-11-13-24/301 (6/6)
23/7 Fontenay 3-6-24/125 (3/4)
6/8 Montoire 4-11-31-32-35-36-41-45/487 (10/14)
6/8 Pontoise 18-32-33-34-94/359 (5/6)
20/8 Fontenay 3-4-5-6-8-11-21-24-33-36/140 (10/14)
27/8 Argenton 27-39-106-118-124 (5/8)
Highlighting some of the top performers
"Hitske" (22/3005429)
Half-sister of De Groote (on father's side) and half-sister of “Elyse” (on mother's side)
1/568 Clermont
1/438 Clermont
6/419 Clermont
7/521 Clermont
9/380 Clermont
“Mathias” (22/3005425)
Half-brother of De Groote (on mother's side) and half-brother of “Elyse” (on father's side).
1/521 Clermont
2/380 Clermont
2/301 Clermont
2/1103 Pontoise
“Lucky” (22/3005413)
Father: Vanlerberghe Marc breed - Mother: 1st local ace pigeon speed
1/163 Arras
1/419 Clermont
5/593 Clermont
“Beir” (22/3005407)
Brother of “Wittepen” and “Big 77”
Flies 12 prizes in 13 races:
2/593 Clermont
3/380 Clermont
9/301 Clermont
66/1453 Clermont
163/1908 Pontoise
196/2259 Clermont
188/1019 Pontoise
83/438 Clermont
103/521 Clermont
64/294 Clermont
38/163 Arras
594/2126 St-Just
"Bauke" (22/3005436)
Daughter from "Boas" (2nd provincial ace pigeon speed) and "Christine" (purely Chris Debacker)
1/428 Fontenay
3/297 Fontenay
16/2992 Fontenay
54/2704 Montoire
2023 also brought various highlights for Melvin at the loft. The overall quality present in the loft earned him the title of provincial youth champion for the 3rd time, as well as 2nd general speed champion in Ypres for the 2nd time.
With 2 local top 3 finishes and 11 first prizes in both local and federated competitions, 2023 continued the momentum of recent years. Old widower BE21-3110638 “Wittepen” (results below) and yearling “Mathias” (Mathias was the result of a crossing between the father of “Elyse” and the mother of “De Groote.” Another successful shot! With 1/521, 1/178, 2/1103, 2/797, 2/380, 2/301, 2/231 in speed races, he confirmed his quality as the 5th provincial ace pigeon KBDB and 1st ace pigeon KBDB among beginners.) The group of youngsters also delivered very nice results, including brothers “Adrien” (23/3094362 - flew 1/1577 Clermont, 8/1067 Pontoise) and “Maxime” (23/3094363 - flew 2/1067 Pontoise, 4/939 St-Just).
Wittepen (21/3110638):
1/660 Clermont
2/815 Clermont
2/227 Clermont
3/296 Pontoise
4/106 Fontenay
7/149 Pontoise
Some results from 2023
30-04-23 Clermont Local De Vriendenkring 443 Yearlings(12), 1, 50, 63, 77, 81, 92, 108, 126
30-04-23 Clermont Local De Vriendenkring 815 Old (17), 1, 2, 16, 64, 75, 105, 134, 158, 160, 171, 210
30-04-23 Clermont WH6 De Vriendenkring 1149 Yearlings(12), 1, 137, 180, 210, 233, 305, 370
30-04-23 Clermont WH6 De Vriendenkring 2337 Old (17), 1, 8, 55, 196, 233, 335, 422, 493, 504, 543, 759
13-05-23 Orleans Local De Zwaluw Boezinge 141 Yearlings(8), 3, 10, 15, 16, 27, 29
27-05-23 Clermont Local De Vriendenkring 227 Old (4), 2, 17, 23, 24
03-06-23 Arras Local De Vriendenkring 216 Young (35), 2, 3, 10, 15, 16, 24, 26, 27, 28, 31, 33, 41, 43, 44, 57, 59, 63, 69, 70
03-06-23 Clermont WH6 De Vriendenkring 660 Old (4), 1, 12, 66, 98
03-06-23 Clermont WH6 De Vriendenkring 346 Yearlings(2), 6, 30
03-06-23 Clermont Local De Vriendenkring 105 Yearlings(2), 2, 13
03-06-23 Clermont Local De Vriendenkring 161 Old (4), 1, 5, 19, 27
24-06-23 Clermont Local De Vriendenkring 386 Young (31), 1, 5, 7, 8, 11, 19, 20, 21, 43, 44, 48, 49, 60, 64
24-06-23 Clermont WH6 De Vriendenkring 1577 Young(31), 1, 5, 13, 15, 25, 51, 52, 53, 160, 162, 181, 188
12-08-23 Pontoise Local De Vriendenkring 270 Young (6), 2, 16, 22, 56, 80
26-08-23 Chateaudun Local De Verbroedering 65 Young (7), 1, 7, 9, 17
26-08-23 St-Just Local De Vriendenkring 163 Young (6), 1, 23, 49
02-09-23 Pontoise WH6 De Vriendenkring 1067 Young (6), 2, 8, 9, 41, 122, 267
02-09-23 Pontoise Local De Vriendenkring 105 Young (6), 1, 2, 3, 9, 21
09-09-23 Chateauroux Local De Vriendenkring 337 Young (9), 1, 70, 75
09-09-23 Clermont Local De Vriendenkring 96 Young (6), 1, 2, 3, 7, 11
09-09-23 Clermont WH6 De Vriendenkring 463 Young (6), 8, 39, 40, 83, 111
It can be stated that this is an exceptional talent in pigeon racing and that many champion titles will still head toward Voormezele. We wish Melvin and his family many fantastic years ahead!