2012 PRIZE PRESENTATION

by Tom Harris

Saturday 15th of December was the date for the joint presentation evening for the Welsh National Flying Club and the Welsh North Road Federation at the Seaman’s Mission Blub in Newport, and after the response received following last year’s presentation night we were not surprised to find that this year’s tickets were sold out well in advance, some five weeks prior to the event.

Fanciers, families and friends were requested to be present at the venue in preparation for a 6.30 serving and with the exception of one small group, who were running ten minutes late, everyone was seated and the evening got underway as planned with Mr Mel Mayo, chairman of the WNR Federation addressing the room by saying grace. An excellent three course meal was once again swiftly served to the 97 guests present in no time at all; there was no hanging around - as one course left the table the next was there being served, to the delight of everyone. Some even took advantage of the extra portions that were then circulated around the room. Once again the feedback throughout the evening and the following days has been positive with not one complaint, resulting in a provisional re-book of the same caterers for next year.

With the tables cleared from the dance floor Mr Bob Clarke, chairman of the WNFC, formally opened the evening by welcoming everyone present. He went on to thank Mr Edward Watts, chairman of the Mission to Seafarers Club, for once again hosting this prestigious event and the committee of the WNR Federation for once again accepting our long standing invitation to share the night with us once again. Mr Clarke then went on to invite the committee of the Welsh North Road Federation to come forward and award their trophies for the federation open and section winners. Coverage of this will of course be highlighted by their press offer in future weeks so I believe it right not to report too much on these proceedings. Regrettably John Humphrys wasn’t able to make the evening due to illness, however he was represented by his wife Rosemary and family for the occasion and we all wish him a speedy recovery.

With their awards gracefully presented, the proceedings were handed back over to the WNFC to award its silverware and trophies. Myself and the chairman Bob Clarke then had the pleasure of announcing the winners of the Welsh National Flying Club for 2012. First to be called forward to the table was Paul Hares for 1st north section Maidstone followed by T. Hawkins family, 1st south section and 1st centre section 1st open winning the Malcolm Gibbons sponsored trophy. Each race was then presented in the following order. Folkestone 1 OB - 1st North Section P Hares, 1st Centre Section Morgan & Cushing and 1st South Section 1st Open Rogers & Duggan from Cardiff collecting the R G Davies corn supplies sponsored crystalware. Lillers OB 1st Centre Section H Minett, 1st South Section Fishlock Bros & Son, 1st North Section 1st Open Williams Bros & Son of Tredegar receiving the West Country Products sponsored trophy. Brussels – 1st North Section Mr & Mrs D Russell, 1st South Section Picton Bros  & Son and 1st Centre Section 1st Open winning the Proff Sport sponsored award was Mel May from Bargoed. After Brussels and with poor weather dominating, the transport management team decided that there was no chance of a liberation that weekend over the channel so opted to return to Folkestone 2. From here the following winners were: 1st South Section A Dunn, 1st North Section Mr & Mrs I Bromley and 1st Centre Section 1st Open were the father and son partnership of M & J Hughes from Treharris winning the Versele Laga sponsored trophy. We then moved on to our longest race of the season from Bonn in eastern Germany competing for the WNR Federation longest race of the year award where 1st South Section was won by Fishlock Bros & Son, 1st North Section Mr & Mrs D Russell and 1st Centre Section 1st open Steve Jude of Cwmbran. With the old bird awards presented we swiftly moved onto the young bird programme from Maidstone where 1st South Section was won by J Newbury, 1st Centre Section Morris & Lucus and 1st North Section 1st open winning the Andy Kidd Gardening sponsored trophy was William Holpin from Abergavenny. Folkestone 1 YB - 1st Centre Section for I Davies, 1st South Section A Dunn followed by the Ponypool lofts of D K Flowers who claimed the Jack Jenkins memorial trophy. We then moved onto the last race of the year which was supposed to have been from Lillers but once again due to unpredictable weather this was cut short to return to Folkestone 2 where once again I Davies claimed the top spot in the centre section. D K Flowers took 1st North Section, and the final open position went to the Hawkins family of Newport who received the Mr Mr S Tremeer sponsored glassware.

It was then onto the average awards for the Versele Laga Folkestone 2 old bird race. The Cardiff partnership of Fishlock Bros & Son took the honours on this occasion whilst the Hawkins family claimed the best opposite sex to the winner award for the young bird averages and the Mr & Mrs Harris sponsored trophy once again went to the Bargoed loft of Iddy Davies who has incidentally received this award every year that the WNFC has been in existance (4 years), an honour this loft and fancier is proud to hold and take recognition for.

Proceedings went on with the presentation of the Paget Pets of Cardiff sponsored corn vouchers to each of our section winners for the Folkestone 2 old bird race. These were presented to the following recipients - North Section Mr & Mrs Bromley, South Section A Dunn and 1st Centre Section M & J Hughes. Then it was the turn of the representatives of our Olympic Challenge race sponsors A & R Couriers of Newport to come forward. This company sponsored each section with traditional gold, silver and bronze medals and an overall trophy for the race winner. These were presented by Yvonne Jones on behalf of the sponsors to the following fanciers: South Section bronze P Goodright, silver Picton Bros & Son, gold A Dunn. Centre Section bronze M & J Hughes, silver H Minett, gold I Davies. North section Williams Br & Son, silver C Long & Son, and gold and the overall winners trophy was presented to D K Flowers of Pontypool.

Just a few presentations for thanks throughout the year then took place with flowers presented to Mrs Rosemary Humphrys for her outstanding contribution as race sheet auditor, Mrs Clarke (chairman’s wife) and last but not least Mrs Gaynor Harris joint secretary for her commitment to the WNFC throughout 2012.

We then took the opportunity to recognise the performance once again of one of our members, Fishlock Bros & Son of Cardiff on winning the Welsh Homing Pigeon Union sprint trophy for performance gained with the Welsh National FC and Welsh North Road Federation in 2012.

Before closing, the chairman wished to once again thank everyone for supporting the night by attending and representing their affiliated organisation. He then went on to ask the congregation present to support him in thanking the secretaries not only for their work throughout the year but for organising and planning the event, and with that everyone rose to their feet to endorse his request and thanks. With that the lights were dimmed and the music started whilst the dance floor was cleared for the remainder of the night. However after a while, as always, it was time for the raffle which presented twenty five prizes sourced by various means, plus a few from fanciers there on the night so to them once again thank you for your generosity, it’s something we don’t ask for but gracefully accept.

We had one thing to do before we handed back to the disco and that was to auction off a few pledges of 2013 youngsters by a few of our most consistent lofts over the past years. I took it upon myself to approach two members from each section who I felt were at the top of either the open result or their respected sections on a weekly basis and we therefore thank the following fanciers: Fishlock Bros & Son, Kidd & Cooke, T Hawkins family, Mr & Mrs I Bromley, Iddy Davies, Mel Mayo (2). There was a great atmosphere in the room as this took place with these seven donations raising an overwhelming £900.00.

As most will be aware, during 2012 we sadly lost our resident photographer Mr Clive Hughes through a long illness. For the past three years Clive had graced our organisation by highlighting our previous presentation evenings and awarding through his sponsorship a framed photo of our open national winners, so some of this money raised will go to ensure that this year’s 2012 winners won’t go without receiving the same as past winners. With everything covered it was time to dim the lights once again for the disco to take us into the early hours. We would once again like to thank everyone for making this event yet another successful evening. We maybe a small organisation compared to some, however we are graced with some of the most dedicated fanciers that Wales has to offer and anyone approaching the table to recieve an award, be it the a novice trophy or the highest award on offer, had to work hard to achieve their place to be there. We are also fortunate for the generosity, commitment and strength of our committee and membership and ongoing sponsorships which ensures future development and growth of this organisation for the benefit of the membership for years to come.

Footnote: The loss of Clive Hughes left a great void within our organisation however after weeks of contacting various well known pigeon photographers requesting the possibility of future sponsorships, I have pleasure confirming that Mr Chris Sutton from Leicester has agreed to take over this position on our behalf. It goes without saying that we thank you for your generosity and we look forward to working with you in the future. Chris has therefore arranged to be present on the day of our forthcoming annual general meeting on Sunday 27th Jan 2013 (times to be confirmed) not only to photograph our open winners on behalf of the WNFC but to offer his services to any fancier from any organisation who wishes to take advantage of this opportunity of having a framed photo of their past or present performance pigeon/s, or even the old family favourite. I appreciate this isn’t the most favourable time of year to take photos of pigeons due to the breeding season being underway for most but Mr Sutton is a busy man, as you can expect, and the date was chosen to suit both parties to ensure this was done for our winners of 2012. The price of this is at £25.00 per pigeon framed. Montages are also available at an extra cost based on number of pigeons requested. Advance notice from anyone taking advantage of Mr Sutton’s services would be appreciated by contacting me or Chris direct. Finally any notice of motions for the forthcoming WNFC annual general meeting need to be submitted before 30th December 2012.

Fishlock Bros & Son - WHPU Sprint Trophy winners 2012

H Minett - 1st open Maidstone

Rogers & Duggan - 1st open Folkestone

Williams Bros & Son - 1st open Lillers

M & J Hughes - 1st open Folkestone 2 OB

S Jude - 1st open Bonn

M Mayo - 1st open Brussels

T Hawkins family - 1st open Folkestone 2

W Holpin - 1st Maidstone YBs

D K Flowers - Olympic Challenge race winner

D K Flowers - 1st open Folkestone 1

I Bromley - Paget Pets voucher winner

A Dunn - Paget Pets voucher winner

M & J Hughes - Paget Pets voucher winner

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