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14 – Purebred PIGEON
The Twelfth Annual Big Apple Invitational was
held on November 23, 2019, bringing together exhib-
itors, vendors and visitors for the largest all-variety
show in the New York Metropolitan area. The show was
held at its usual location, the Greenwich Civic Center
in Greenwich, Connecticut, just outside of New York
City. The National Show Racing Pigeon show was once again held in
conjunction with the Big Apple, providing a “Homer” room with many
beautiful breeds.
After a dip in entries in 2018 due to concerns over sickness in
the fall show season, entries were back up for the 2019 Big Apple –
including entries in many breeds that have never shown at the Big
Apple or have been absent for several years. For the first time ever,
Giant Runts were at the Big Apple and they put on a great show with
over 60 Giant Runts. These majestic birds were a big favorite of many
of the visitors and exhibitors of other breeds. We also had Russian
Tumblers back at the Big Apple, and Rumblers for the first time. The
“Homer” room also had significant entries of American Show Racers,
Non-flown Homers, German Beauty Homers, and Old German Owls.
The main gym had many of the traditional New York breeds,
such as Domestic Show Flights, Flying Flights, Flying Tipplers, Bronze
Show Tipplers and Danish. The Big Apple is the greatest exhibition of
these breeds held anywhere. Also in the main gym was a large entry
of Pouters and Croppers, which are always among the favorite breeds
at a show. Lothar and Barbara Beer had this section well decorated
and looking great. Also shown were numerous Roller breeds, Ko-
morner Tumblers, Flying Cumulets, and a variety of Rare Breeds.
As usual, all breeds with 20 or more entries received a unique
Big Apple Best of Breed trophy, which this year was a large decorative
glass with the Big Apple logo and the name of the particular breed on
Bobby Columbo Judging Flying Tipplers
BigApple
Invitational
2019SHOWREPORT
By Peter Fratangelo Jr.
Photos by Tania O’Dell