The beautiful halls of “Salons De Vrede” in Ichtegem were on Sunday, November 5, “the place to be” for enthusiasts from the coastal province.
And... it must be said, the gathering has grown into an excellent success.
In the morning starting at 10 AM, there was the award ceremony for the West-Flemish Youth Movement.
An award ceremony attended by a full hall of young enthusiasts - accompanied or not by their parents. Kristof, Romain, and Frans (the board members of the West-Flemish Youth Movement) were able to hand out many trophies, medals, and vouchers for pigeon feed to the classified members.
There were two overall champions, namely Melvin Florizoone from Voormezele among the under-30s and Vermeersch-Depraetere from Zwevegem among the starters.
Then, the trophies were also handed over by provincial chairman Dany Vandenberghe, which were donated by the KBDB P.E. West-Vlaanderen.
As the second part of the Provincial Day, the honoring of the many classified members in the various categories followed from 12 PM, ranging from sprint to heavy fond as well as the national winners and champions.
Upon entering the spacious hall, the beautifully decorated podium with trophies and flowers immediately caught the eye.
More than 200 attendees (more than last year, by the way) were present for a high-level culinary banquet in the form of a brunch, a formula that was greatly appreciated by everyone present, with extremely delicious food that was plentiful enough for all.
Quality at its best, “the” hallmark of the renowned “Salons de Vrede” in Ichtegem.
At the beginning of the festive afternoon, there was first the traditional opening speech by Mr. Dany Vandenberghe, chairman of P.E. West-Vlaanderen.
A speech that was met with loud applause.
Here follows the full text presented by the chairman:
“Dear friends pigeon lovers,
On behalf of the committee P.E. West Flanders, I would like to warmly welcome you all to our provincial champions’ day.
A special day for the pigeon lovers from our province.
Thanks to the 227 attendees today, we can again speak of a success.
We are going to make something beautiful out of it again. The operators and staff of our now familiar location “Salons De Vrede” guarantee that.
This morning, the youth was already highlighted. A special word of thanks and appreciation to the board members of the West Flemish youth movement who managed everything smoothly and made many young members proud and happy.
Among the attendees here at the table, we also see several representatives and collaborators from our associations.
A word of thanks for those people as well. Being ready for our enthusiasts for a full season deserves all respect. I know better than anyone what you have to sacrifice for that. Hats off because without you, there is no pigeon sport possible. Some tend to forget this sometimes.
During the afternoon, we will honor all the champions and prize winners from the various disciplines. This year, we also have 6 national winners and 4 national champions richer in our province. I already want to congratulate all the people who will be mentioned later.
The outstanding year 2022, during which we were able to celebrate no less than 16 national winners and 7 national champions in our province, will be hard to match.
Yet we are satisfied with the past season. We had no control over the weather and wind direction, but we can still speak of a normal progression of the flights.
There were no major issues encountered. However, our young pigeons had a difficult start due to the persistent eastern winds, which we know can be deadly, unfortunately leading to many losses.
Preparations for the upcoming season are already underway.
The national flight calendar for next season is already known, and I dare to say, in the name of the committee P.E. West-Vlaanderen, that we are anything but happy with it.
We submitted a beautiful and achievable calendar on behalf of our P.E. for discussion at the national sports committee.
We were absolutely not welcomed for it and had to hear that it is “not done” for provincial entities to submit proposals for the calendar.
Very unfortunate, especially when one knows that personal contributions are indeed accepted...
Incidentally, I would also like to mention that both the national chairman and the chairman of the national sports committee received an invitation for this special day of West-Flemish pigeon sport. It is unfortunate that we could not welcome either of them.
But at the provincial level, we absolutely cannot complain. On the sports front, we received very few complaints, so we are assuming that we can confidently continue on the path we have taken. We still have problems with the KHF flights, where the pigeons often return home in poor condition, but this is a phenomenon that occurs everywhere and not just in West Flanders. Despite the many checks on care and arrival times at the release point, the reason remains one big question mark. We will certainly keep an eye on this.
New this season was the automatic calculation of the championships. We had not dared to hope that this innovation for our province would go so smoothly. There have been no justified complaints. A word of thanks to the KBDB, which made all this practically and financially possible. We especially cannot forget the role of our secretary Nico. Thank you very much for that Nico.
In the sprint flights, with the support of P.E. West Flanders, beautiful connections were established in many places, allowing our enthusiasts to compete in the national and provincial sprint championships as well. The costs for producing those connection results, we gladly took on so that there were no extra costs for the enthusiasts.
We hope to guarantee this in the future as well. Of course, income is needed for this. Income that we also desperately need for the organization of our provincial day. The prizes that will be awarded here today come with a hefty price tag.
Many of the champions have already donated a voucher for our annual voucher sale, for which we sincerely thank them. But we will still need a little push.
Anyone who wishes to support us with a voucher, whether for a young pigeon or for a pigeon ready for breeding, can certainly reach out to us or our secretary Nico. The voucher sale has been postponed to the end of December for that reason. We are counting on you.
It is now time to really start our champions celebration.
Soon Jacques Mestdagh will manage the award presentations. Jacques has been doing this with full dedication for years, and we are particularly grateful to him for that.
After the award presentations, the DJ is ready to brighten up the rest of the afternoon and evening, where a dance absolutely cannot be missed.
I now wish you all a pleasant afternoon and good eating later.
I thank you.”
After the aperitif, the awarding of the medals to the zonal winners (A1 and A2) followed, after which all categories were addressed, in consultation with the hall manager, taking into account the arrangement of the banquet.
Here follow the top three in each category!
Sprint old & yearlings:
1) Bernard Corteel (Koksijde),
2) Eddy Hubrecht (St Andries),
3) Delbaere-Sampers (Menen)
with 17 nominated in total
Sprint young:
1) Bultynck Timmy (Menen),
2) Stefaan Vanthorre (Torhout),
3) Philip Roelstraete (Ooigem)
with 29 nominated in total
Small half fond old & yearlings:
1) Van Damme-Van Dromme (Pervijze),
2) Deschacht-Denduyver (Westkerke),
3) T’Joens Vivien (Otegem)
with 22 nominated in total
Small half fond young:
1) Calus Ronny (Heist à –Zee),
2) Terryn Romain (Deerlijk),
3) Hok Bastiaenssen (Zerkegem)
with 12 nominated in total
Large half fond old:
1) Debacker Chris (Beveren-Leie),
2) Verhaest Rudi (Lichtervelde),
3) W-J-H Dekeyser (Koekelaere)
with 12 nominated in total
Large half fond yearlings:
1) Heggermont Laurens (Ingelmunster),
2) A & C Allemeersch-Vanparys (Ruddervoorde),
3) Debacker Chris (Beveren-Leie)
with 10 nominated in total
Fond old:
1) Debacker Chris,
2) Team Platteeuw (Rumbeke),
3) De Saer Rudi (Ruiselede)
with 9 nominated in total
Fond yearlings:
1) M & G Pollin (Snellegem),
2) Verheye Rino (Aalbeke),
3) Norbert & Stefaan Ally (Aarsele)
with 11 nominated in total
Fond young:
1) Debacker Chris (Beveren-Leie),
2 & 3 Rudi Verhaest (Lichtervelde)
with 14 nominated in total
Heavy fond old & yearlings:
1 & 2 & 3 Geert Maroy (Heestert)
with 11 nominated in total
All-round old & yearlings:
1) Roose-Pyra (Bekegem),
2) Deruyck Bart (Oostrozebeke),
3) Demonie Guido (Langemark)
with 13 nominated in total
All-round young:
1) Heggermont Laurens (Ingelmunster)
2) Lannoo-Ballegeer (Moerkerke),
3) Hok Bastiaenssens (Zerkegem)
with 13 nominated in total
Overall Championship 2023:
1) Debacker Chris –
2) Vandepoele E & V –
3) Roose-Pyra
In the meantime, Nico, the ever-dutiful, punctual, and diligent provincial secretary, was, to his great surprise, honored by the provincial chairman.
A nice interlude where Nico was treated to a hearty applause.
After the presentation of trophies and flowers to the many laureates in the provincial as-duif championship, a tribute was finally paid to the West-Flemish national winners and national champions, followed by the national anthem.
National winners are:
- Jan Nobus from Heist-à-Zee (Limoges old of 03-06)
- Team Platteeuw from Rumbeke (Valence old)
- Kurt Verhulst from Meulebeke (Argenton old 09-06)
- Werner Vansteelant from Ruddervoorde (Pau)
- Marc Desplenter from Kortemark (Barcelona)
- Team Hooymans WVL from Desselgem (Chateauroux 09-09)
National Champions:
- Ronny Calus (Heist à Zee): 1st nat. champion KHF young 1 + 2
- Chris Debacker (Beveren-Leie): 1st nat. championship GHF old & yr 1 + 2
- Geert Maroy (Heestert): 1st nat. as-duif. Large Fond yearlings
- Mathias Putman (Zwevegem): 1st nat. champion Large Fond yearlings 1 + 2
The provincial committee consisting of Dany Vandenberghe, Wim Logie, and Paul Haesaert, together with provincial secretary Nico, can look back with rightful pride on their Provincial Day.
A Provincial Day that grew into a gathering appreciated by everyone present, featuring a particularly high-quality culinary brunch, a flawless and smooth award ceremony for the many classified, and a well-followed program that concluded at 5 PM as planned.
The many positive comments directed at the provincial committee testify to a very pleasant event.
Congratulations to the provincial board and the secretary; your work, friends, deserves all appreciation.
Hats off, gentlemen!! It was top-notch with a beautiful finish!!!
Afterwards, the celebration continued to the sounds of the music brought by the DJ.
Text: J. Mestdagh / photos: provincial secretary Nico