1995 World Cup Champion

Don Ouellette

I have always been fascinated  with birds and especially pigeons. My grandfather used to raise assorted chickens and all kinds of animals. I  lived in the country, in Morgan Hill Ca. In  1965 our family moved to Sunnyvale, Ca, the suburbs. My uncle Ron Garcia kept assorted breeds of pigeons in the early sixties. He specialized in Parlor rollers. He told me stories of the old days  rolling his parlors at  big competitions. My oldest brother Dan kept several breeds of pigeons in the early to mid sixties. I started with street rollers. I did not know any serious fanciers so I had to make due with what was available around the area. I developed two families of Rollers starting in 1969. I received my first Roller from Mr. Rockovich. I went on to develop the “OLD STOCK” family and the “OLD STOCK ALMOND” family. In 1990 I  had several pairs of the “OLD STOCK” family stolen. I was left with just a few birds. Eventually I disposed of the remainder.  I started the “3bird” family in 1983. In 1992 I made my sub family the “SUPERSPIN” family. I did this to create my own outcross should the “3bird”  family ever need one. The “SUPERSPIN” family is built around one pigeon, PRA  36 87. I bred “36” on 42 hens. Most were bred by me. I used  several key hens  from Dan Ouellette, Doug Ouellette and one from Joe Borges.   In 1995. after winning the World Cup,  I decided to part with  all the “OLD STOCK ALMONDS” . I  wanted to concentrate on the birds that won the World Cup. Specifically the” 3BIRD” and  “SUPERSPIN” families.  I had given the best Almond I had ever bred to Ramsey Ajlouni in case I had a change of heart. I have no regrets with my decision to concentrate on the “3BIRD” and “SUPERSPIN” families. These  birds backed it up in 1996 winning the Region with 50 kits entered. I judged the finals that year so I did not fly in the finals. In 1997 these families once again backed it up with a  National title. With judge Guil Rand of Spanish Fork, Utah saying that “Don Ouellette’s kit had the best combination of depth {40’ to 50’} and quality of spin I have ever seen. Thanks Don for setting the standard a little higher for all of us”. In 2002 the same families received the highest bonus’s in the National fly. Receiving a respectable 1.7  AVERAGE for Quality and a 1.7 AVERAGE for Depth.

   I see people discrediting the competitions based on a comment made over 50 years ago by WH Pensom . Mr Pensom had this to say on the subject of competition in 1966 two years before he passed away. “ Flying contests in various parts of the country are fast becoming very popular. This is  of coarse, a step in the right direction. From such practices we are enabled to educate ourselves in evaluating our birds and our self's as breeders and managers”. APJ  April 1966

       In 1965 he said “ Flying these birds in competition  with other fanciers is a most progressive step and when properly  understood must be of great benefit to the breeder. There are some inclined to believe that such competitions are not in the best interests of the fancy. The basic rules for competition flying is the only way in which a fancier can learn to better control his flock and better estimate the true quality of each individual he chooses to fly. Such rules apply to any grade of performer. In no way does the sport interfere with the quality of the birds kept. It is entirely up to the breeder as to what kind of tumblers and rollers he prefers to create, he alone is responsible for the quality of the birds kept”.  APJ  October 1965

I do not completely agree with the current rules. Rather than complain I just pay my entry and get my birds ready for those rules. I have heard some nonsense that if you want to win competitions you have to get “competition Rollers” Ridiculous. The kits that are winning are Rollers . They are holding their own in all aspects. There is no such thing as a “competition Roller”. Fly your birds. Pay attention. Do your home work and cross your fingers. Success in Rollers is directly related to the man flying them. If you choose not to compete that is your right but don’t blame the rules. That is a cop out. Today there are several venues of competition to fly in. Futurities, the 11 bird fly and of course the World Cup and the James Perri Memorial Fly. It takes guts to put your birds up to be judged. Sitting on the sidelines making excuses is weak.

    In 1981 I met Chan Grover. Through Dan meeting  Roger Baker . Roger told Dan to look up Chan and we did. Had we known that all along Chan was a half hour from our house we could have saved a lot of time. Chan was good to us. He gave us great birds.  He was kind of tough but we were used to that because our dad was the same way. We enjoyed many hours spent with Chan. Chan knew so much we were like sponges soaking  up as much information as possible. Chan did this for hundreds of fanciers for many years. He taught me a lot about Rollers.I am proud to call him my mentor.

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