97 OBs. IF CHAMPION LOFT
Stan Borowski & Rich Dworek

Tell us a little about yourself
The loft is owned by partnership of Stan Borowski and Rich Dworek. Stan Borowski and wife Marlene reside at 125 Hemphill Hollow Rd., New Kensington , Pa., 15068 (412 339-3331). He has been flying for over 40 years and is a retired "Chief" and a former top national recruiter for the U.S.Navy. Stanley can remember when the Pittsburgh Center had over 5000 birds coming to the Pittsburgh area every race day. He recalls that on one race he won 1st, 2nd and 3rd Center and the caption was "I won the hat trick. Unfortunately at that time Pittsburgh did not have a NHL hockey team- so I didn't know what Pete Barry was talking about". Mario Lemieux and a few Stanley Cup trophies in Pittsburgh changed his viewpoint of "hat tricks".

Rich Dworek lives at 100 Oxford Drive, Monroeville, Pa. 15146 (412 372 -0639). He has been flying birds for almost fifty years, the first 40 with his dad ,Stan, and last five years with Stan Borowski. This week Stan and I received our glass plaques for First IF Hall of Fame in two categories for 1997 young birds. We also were first Champion Loft (President's Cup) for the highest combined score for old and young birds. We would like to thank the IF membership and officers for these 1997 awards. Most important, we would like to acknowledge the hard working efforts of Mr. Paul Walsh, who is not only a good pigeon flyer (First Champion Loft old birds in 1997) but undoubtedly has spent many hours of effort to compile the IF champion Awards on a national basis.

Do you think your position is a good one as far as combine races are concerned? How big is Combine? Club?
It depends. It is not a good position when winds increase from East and/ or rain approaches as birds near home, or when there are only a few day birds as we are a long loft. ( Note that in Gulf Coast, Fla.-a lot of members want to move to short end.) It is a good position when winds increase from west. Also to a certain extent position may be overrated. Topoleski, Ralph Johnston and my Dad and I did very well when we were in middle and south. Currently we are in middle and long in one combine and north and long in another combine and south to a third combine. Our birds have done well no matter the location. We fly in three- four clubs currently. Two have about 10-15 flyers, and other two about 25 flyers. In combine there are about 40 flyers in one combine and 50-60 in other combine. A few years ago one of our combines had 138 flying members. The addition of new combines and demographics (age) of our flyers has significantly diluted the membership.

Do you have an original family of pigeons?
Yes, About 80% of our current birds that we flew in our very good 1997 season can be traced back to the birds that my dad and I flew in our first race in 1950 young birds. Currently, we have named these birds the " #3016 family" as she was the foundation for our 1997 IF hall of Fame winners and previous IF Hall of Fame birds as well as First IF Convention race in Pittsburgh ( One Loft Race). We also have blended these birds with some of Stanley's good Janssens and Bekaerts that won First IF Convention race in Pittsburgh and New Orleans.

What type of birds that you now fly ?
The original Dworek "#3016" family were mainly HVR and Joe Tavormina Cadillac Loft -Elizabeth NJ-1st Big All-American birds. These birds have been crossed with Stanley Borowski's good Janssens and Bekaerts; a very good bird from Marty Ladin (Calif.); an excellent bird from Dick Lacroix Mass.) ; seven good birds from Ray Sulkowski (Ohio) which were three first place Desmet Mathys which included two big Land Channel 300 mile young bird Futurity Winners. The Desmet Mathys bloodlines are related to some of Vic Miller's Snowbirds. We also have a very good Jeff Teves hen ;a good Cappellini hen ; two good Janssens from Sulkowski. We also are currently breeding four good birds from the First place National Champs of Frans and Hugo Moris of Belgium. We had a very good 1986 Van Loon ; a good Janssen from the Janssen Brothers of Belgium ; and Nachtergaeles from Belgium and England. We have also received good young birds from our Snowbird breeding partner, Bud Dezomba, and a good first combine 1997 yb winner from Todd Noftz of Pittsburgh.

Can you give us a little history on your champion bird ?
Our 1997 first IF Hall of Fame winner in the 16-49 loft category is 97 TAR 7646 Slate hen. This bird is combination of birds from Borowski and Dworek. In fact #7646 is closely related to our First place IF Convention Race winners in the 1991 Pittsburgh IF Convention Race. The 1/2 brother of #7646 won First in the IF Convention Race. This IF Convention Race Winner was bred from 90 FV 2124 red check -Janssen- bred by Ray Sulkowski from Ohio and sent in to be handled by Stan Borowski. But Ray also bred #2124 from Stanley's #1306 that won 7 Firsts. When Ray terminated flying operations in Ohio two years ago we got #2124, the sire of the 1991 First IF Convention Winner. In 1991, Pittsburgh also had a one loft breeders race. This IF Convention race was won by a Dworek #3016 bred bird. A close relative of the IF one loft race First place winner was bred to and raised #0519, the first hen in the IF Hall of Fame old birds a couple years ago. # 0519 was a First combine Winner and a First Combine Hall of Fame Winner. #0519 is the dam of #7646. #7646 won First, Second, Third and Fourth combine against an average of over 800 birds from 122-231 miles.#7646"s sire ( #2124) a beautiful red check cock of Teague Janssen line has got to be one of the best IF breeders since not only did he bred first 1997 IF Hall of Fame but also the First IF Convention Race winner of about 10,000 points and competing against birds sent in by IF members from all over the USA..His nestmate and children are also quality producers.

We also won second IF Hall of Fame in th 16-49 loft category with #7602. #7602 won two First Clubs and second, second, third and 4th combine against an average of 731 birds from122 -322 miles. #7602 is from the Dworek #3016 line and a Corini from Bud Dezomba bloodlines. We also in 1997 won First IF Hall of Fame in the 5-15 loft category with TAR #7746 Blue Check Hen. #7746 won two First and a Second Club and a First, Second and Third Combine at 154 miles, 322 miles and 322 miles. Her nestmate #7747 was 10th IF Hall of Fame and will be our top contender for AU and Digest Awards as was clocked in top 5% in 7 young bird races. #7746 and #7747 are from Dworek #3016 line and Teves bloodlines. We are also proud that 1997 was our best young bird year in about 90 years of flying for the two members of the partnership. As an indication of this super year for the partnership we had the First (#7746), Second (#7602), Sixth (#7746), Eight (#7724), 10th (#7747), 13th (#7714), 14th (#7698), 16th (#7615), 18th (#0269) and19th (#0331) top IF national winners in the 16-49 loft category. In the 5-15 loft category we won First (#7746), 4th (#7602), 6th (#0331) and 9th (#7698) top IF National Hall of Fame Winners. All of these birds won at least top diplomas on two-seven young bird races. With respect to the IF's President Cup which is awarded fot best National old and young bird record, we again were proud that we won First in the 5-15 loft category and had highest national score for any category. Last and probably most important we are extremely proud that we as a flying loft won FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD in the IF Champion Loft category for results in three different clubs and particularly since we flew only 10 birds per club race as compared to 30 birds per club for many of our top competitors. Although 1997 was our best young bird season ever our family of birds, the #3016-#2041 lines, have been winning for years in out of area races such as Snowbird in FVC Calif., the richest and top national competition. We have also won awards by the Bulletin (First All-American) and by the Thoroughbred. These awards are for both IF and AU flyers as well as Canada. IN PARTICULAR OUR FAMILY OF BIRDS HAVE WON FIRST THOROUGHBRED FOR OLD AND YOUNG BIRDS LAST YEAR (1996)

WE ALSO HAVE PLACED PLACE HIGH IN THESE AWARDS FOR LAST NINE YEARS, THE ONLY USA LOFT TO DO SO.
The Thoroughbred says that the Thoroghbred awards for old and young birds are the "toughest to win" in the USA.

How big are your old and young bird teams?
It depends on the number of clubs we are flying. In 1997, when we had our best season ever in young birds, we raced in four different clubs, and had about 120 young birds on the team or about 30 birds per club. We only flew 10 birds per club as compared to many of our competitors who flew 30 birds per club. Hence, the Federation's rule of 30 birds maximum irregardless of number of clubs engaged in competition gave us an opportunity to set birds up for the 300 mile young bird races. Our birds responded by winning 15 consecutive firsts without a defeat including three First Futurities open to 2 or 3 combines; two First Federation races which includes two combines in a joint liberation, four First combines and six First club races.

Do you use a system for young birds? How many hours of light did your birds get? How do you feel about people using different sysytems to compete with?
A few years ago we used the light system , followed directions on video tape that we watched but didn't see major improvements in results. Perhaps it was due to our family of birds or perhaps due to some other environmental or instructional factor. This year we did not use the light system and our birds flew outstanding (first IF Champion Loft in club 1, second IF Champion Loft in club 2 and third IF Champion Loft in club 3). Some of our birds were early hatches and some were late hatches. #0269 which won the WMF band race , the WMF bond race and 5th F bond race ( about 50 seconds behind loftmate that won First) and the highest capital point bird in these three races was flown to perch and was a later hatch. Two other late hatch hens that were flown to the perch were #0331 which won First Federation (two combines) at 322 miles, and #0272 that won combine at 322 miles also. All of these are very good bred birds. The 1/2 sister of #0269, the WMF winner, was flown in FVC Calif. and won First Asain Race and the third best average speed bird and over 15,000 points. The sire of these birds is a Moris Belgium import and the 1/2 brother of the Sprinter that was First Belgium National and a foundation bird of the Moris Loft. With respect to our opinion of others using "systems"-our comment is that this is America and you can do whatever it takes. Years ago there were widowhood flyers that had birds that dominated the combines. At least at that time in our area no one organized to mandate the discontinuation of widowhood or to sectionalize clubs or combines or futurity races!

Do you fly to the perch? Do you fly widowhood?
See above with respect to flying to the perch- which is a yes. Currently we don't fly widowhood. However, this may change in 1998 as with retirement for both partners we may have additional time to do so. We believe that widowhood can supply extra motivation that will enhance performance of a well bred bird to score on several races, whereas natural birds in our opinion with laying of eggs etc.are set up to do well in fewer races within a season.

Describe your loft.
We have a very large loft which was built to be competitive. We have a breeding loft of about 24 feet by eight feet. Two compartments for young birds of about 20 feet by 7 feet. We also have two compartments for old birds of about 20 feet by 8 feet. We also have large fly pens and numerous stall traps for race day activities.

Describe how you feed? When they return from training ?
I prefer to feed birds by hand and a handful at a time to see that no food is ever left on the floor. Feed left on floor at any time is asking for sickness as birds often continue to carry bacterial organisms for years. If birds cannot be hand fed then birds should be hopper fed over wood grates so again droppings can not contaminate feed. All of our lofts are equipped with grate floors to promote health and minimize dust and respiratory problems. Birds are fed promptly when they return from training. This year we had two teams of young birds. On last several races when we flew both teams our second team usually outclocked the first team when had birds on same drop. The second team birds were then the first place futurity and first place federation and first place combine birds. The second team actually ran in to the traps and the better clockers. The second team was more regulated with respect to often being fed when they returned from a training toss. Since this was when they got the majority of feed they didn't waste any time trapping.

How do you train your birds? Single toss? Flock toss? Training truck?
We almost always flock toss our own birds. We haven't used a training truck in years. When your birds come in close contact with other crated birds you have a chance of picking up sickness. Hence, we did not use the Federation truck for 100-150 mile training liberations this year and did not have any sickness during racing season. When all of your birds fly races or mixed club training tosses for several weeks they have an opportunity to pick up sickness problems. When a small percentage of your team fly the races and you have private training tosses your birds have less chance to pick up sickness, hence you can have a well trained and healthy team when birds fly the important 300 mile young bird races.( See item #8 which lists the 15 consecutive firsts by birds not being trained with other birds.)

What is your health program ?
We vaccinate for pox. We give preventatives for PMV, cocci, worms, canker, and respiratory and use standard recommended solutions as sold by pigeon supply houses. We give vitamins and minerals. Years ago when had some apparent bacterial problems we used baytril and amoxicillin.Evidently these bacterial solutions did not have a major long term effect on racing ability for this was our best season in our many years of flying.

Do you have a regular training schedule or do you loft fly?
We do little loft flying. We train hard. There is a fine line between over training and under training. We prefer to give 3 (50 mile) tosses as compared to 1 (50 mile) toss especially when birds are mixed with others such as on Federation training truck. Wuth respect to over or under training observation and 40-50 years of flying help to decide whether to train , race or rest. Quality birds help to rectify errors or bad judgment of the handler.

How often do you race your Champion bird?
Our #7646 that won First IF Hall of Fame this year was flown in 7 races and clocked on 5 races. #7746 which also won First IF Hall of Fame this year was also flown on seven races and clocked on 5 races including two (322 mile races ). #7747 was flown on eight races and was clocked in the top 5% on 7 races which will qualify #7747 for a top Ace pigeon in the Digest and AU Hall of Fame awards. On the other hand, #0269, #0271, #0331, #0326 and #0272 flew only two or three races and all were first or equal first on 322 mile races. #0269 was "jumped" from a 100 mile personal training toss to two 322 mile futurity races and was the first place winner on WMF band and bond race and the leading money winner on F bond race. So we believe you have to know your family of birds to race and pool. When you keep changing birds you do not know what to expect on race day. If you have a well established family stay with the family and test crossings of your family with other high quality birds.

Do you believe in bird entry limits? Do you believe in clocking limits? How do you select your breeding pairs?
We don't have any problems if there is a bird entry limit, especially if full membership is given the opportunity to vote on this issue. We have a problem with a bird entry limit if full membership is not given opportunity to vote and if any revised rule is changed and communicated to the full membership days before season is to start and well trained birds have to sit around and wait prior to being entered into a race.We caution , however, that by putting limits on bird entries you do not raise the full revenues to minimize shipping for all members. Also many of our national awards are based on bird entries. You will not do as well in these categories if fewer birds are shipped to the races. On the other hand we seem to have some of our best seasons when there are bird limits on the local level. So it is a mixed bag and whatever the full membership decides is ok with us. We don't like clocking limits as it affects our applications for national awards such as the Digest Awards. We would have had a much better record for this award if we could have clocked all of the birds that homed in good time for two of the clubs we fly that have clocking limits. A possible national solution for the IF and AU is to have a national six bird clocking limit per club for all. We select our breeders on the basis of race performance.The birds that produce the best produce the most as we like to switch eggs and mate our best males to several hens. We don't worry about pure strains or whether birds are bred from imports or birds are of certain type or have a certain type of eye and we don't use eye sign. We try a few new quality birds every few years to attempt to test and improve because crosses needed to be added occassionally to certain families. We have produced some very good racers with crosses, the hybrid vigor concept. We also have had some big busts when we brought in new birds because the competition is very tough with our proven family of birds.

Is there a flyer, breeder or book that has helped you become a better pigeon flyer? Do you have any goals in the sport? Compose a list of awards you have received - club, combine and national awards if any?
Flying partnership has made both of us better flyers as you get to test different methods. As a goal we would like to win the best average speed or average position for the California Snowbird races. We have been close but no cigar - although we did win an FVC Asain race and had 3rd best average winning 15000 points. The birds have to be good in these races as they are the richest and hence most competitive. Also you may have good birds on local level but they should also be tested with the best from across USA. With respect to awards we have won all (First Combine at all stations; all the average speeds; won all of the 300 mile young bird futurities last year; one bird 500 mile derby race that beat an entire combine in a joint liberation etc.). Also on local level won both national IF convention races that were held in Pittsburgh area in recent years. With respect to National awards we have also won most of these. For example, have won All-American Awards for four decades, the first with this family in 1962 when you had to submit both old and young bird races for consideration. This family of birds also won in 1970's, !980's and 1990's. Also won First Throughbred Championship Loft on many occasions including the first year that awards were intiated and continuing to win First last year in 1996. We have won Thoroughbred Awards every year that awards have been published and this family of birds is only loft in the USA to do so. We have won the most combined All-American and Thoroughbred Awards in the USA for the last nine years and probably have won the most combined All-American and Thoroughbred Awards. With respect to the IF awards last year we won two second If Champion Loft for Old Birds also placed in young birds and had 2nd, 4th, 16th and 23rd place Hall of Fame young birds. In 1997 for the IF we won First President's Cup for old and young birds and had the best score in any category; we were also 3rd Champion Loft for old birds. For young birds in the IF Championsip Loft Award we were First, Second and Third in one category for two different clubs and a combine and second in another category. With respect to IF national Hall of Fame bird awards we won First, Second, sixth, eight, tenth, 13th,14th,16th,18, and 19th in 49 loft category and first, fourth, sixth and ninth best IF national birds in the 15 loft category. We believe that these records demonstrate that our family of birds can compete at top national levels generation after generation as old or young birds and from distances from100 to 600 miles.