Throughout Poland, the Association brings together more than fifty thousand breeders. The Bolesławiec Branch of the Polish Association of Racing Pigeon Breeders (PZHGP), based on Komuny Paryskiej Street, has 120 members.
They are united by an often fanatical love of this species of winged creatures, but apparently pigeons deserve such love. If only because they can fly thousands of kilometres to find and return to their own nest and keeper. This was the case with Waldemar Grodzicki’s pigeon. In 1992, the PZHGP, together with its counterpart in Czechoslovakia, co-organised a pigeon race from the English Channel in France. The record flight by a pigeon to Bolesławiec was 1,138 km. Mr Waldemar had every reason to be proud.
The Bolesławiec Branch of the PZHGP brings together both older pigeon enthusiasts and young people. Both groups are characterised by great activity, expressed in discipline, care for the pigeons, mutual kindness, interest in specialist literature, etc. The oldest, experienced breeders include Zdzisław Bauer and Jan Zawczak. The young enthusiasts are Daniel Firszt, Tomasz Gradzki and Krzysztof Wojcieszak (13 years old!). Among the active seniors, Marian Mitera undoubtedly stands out. He has already served as President and Treasurer of the Association’s Bolesławiec Branch, and in the most recent election he agreed to serve as Secretary.
Henryk Wojcieszak became President of the Branch, with Henryk Dudek (First Vice-President for racing), Waldemar Grodzicki (Second Vice-President for administration) and Wojciech Budzyński (Third Vice-President for finance, Treasurer) as his deputies. Henryk Lichnerski and Krzysztof Jureczka are also members of the Board.
Marek Zakrzewski, a resident of Gościszów and, naturally, a member of the Bolesławiec Branch, boasts the largest number of pigeons. 180 (!) pigeons circle above the roof of his house. Andrzej Przybyłek of Bolesławiec breeds slightly fewer—120 pigeons. Mr Andrzej is ranked 46th in the PZHGP Polish Championships, meaning that among more than 50,000 breeders he occupies a place in the top fifty.
Meeting of breeders from Bolesławiec and Nuland
Bolesławiec breeders established friendly and beneficial contacts with pigeon breeders from the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Germany. Dutch breeders invited the people of Bolesławiec to Nuland, where “our people” could learn about Dutch and Western breeding methods and practices in general. The pigeon breeders from Bolesławiec brought back, alongside their experiences from the Netherlands, plenty of gifts and the best impressions. Pigeons are a beautiful and useful passion