My life has always been oddly and miracuously interlocked with Sions. What they have given me has made my life special. For me, they have always been a work of art in progress. There is nothing as beautiful as a Sion. They invoke imagination and give joy.
WELCOME to my HEITZMAN SION website. I AM that person well known throughout the world for his family of beautiful long distance racing pigeons. I hope that you will please take the time to look at these new photos which I have taken of my lofts and of my my family of Sions. Truly, there are no Sions on the planet today which compare.
Thank you.
I hope that you will enjoy and appreciate these new photos which I am using on this update. These are all photos which I took primarily in November, 2023 to show my new lofts and the new five acres on which they are located. I wanted to show the progress which has been made. And also the birds which I will be using as breeders in 2024. As Heitzman always said, "The Apple Does Not Fall Far From TheTree." My life with him is always with me wherever I go. Please know, these photos are like my pigeons. They are the "real deal" and have not been PHOTO-SHOPPED as you constantly see with so many people who advertise pigeons or have them on some website to be auctioned off. All those poor pigeons standing exactly the same way. And all of them with photo shopped wings and tails to hopefully fool you and make the poor pigeons "look good." Good heavens, the circus stuff these "experts" do these days. By now, you should know well who they are. You only need to look at their ads over and over. They figure if they control your minds then they will control your money.
I am trying to make this "SION EMPIRE" a great home for my family of Sions. The one true flagship for Sions. No person actually and truthfully has Sions like these. I have devoted my life to them. They are distinctly recognized for their abilities to race long distances. And also being the most beautiful racing homers in the world.
WELCOME---WELCOME to all you racing pigeon fanciers who love Sions. After 66 years of breeding pure Sions which I obtained from a man who was much my father, Mr. Charles Heitzman, an international legend who lived in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, also my home state----- I have now bred these Sions for so long they have now become my own family of Sions, known throughout the world as the "NO SWEAT SIONS."
I like to believe that I have honored Charles Heitzman. Assuredly, more than anyone. Today, I remain that individual who you can trust to have the finest and most pure actual racing Sions. These may well be the finest Sions which have ever existed. These are Sions as fine in your hand as they appear. Temperment. balance, tight vents, great feathering, closed backs---every small matter which constitutes a champion racing pigeon. This has not come about in a short time. Nor has it happened without expense and devotion. Please know, I am an author. My seventh novel was just released. The name of that book is, UNCLE MOSES AND ED HAWKINS. The novel is titled, UNCLE MOSES AND ED HAWKINS BY NO SWEAT. You see it photographed on this web site.
About 50 years ago, I began to write under the pen name "NO SWEAT." More people today know me by "NO SWEAT" than they do my actual name. My mail comes to "NO SWEAT." And now, these beautiful Sions I breed are called the "NO SWEAT SIONS." This is a true family of racing pigeons. Birds owning simialr appearances which are line bred back to many of the same Sion champions: "Le Rouselete", "Le-Roi", and others. I may well be that one last fancier in North America who has developed an actual true family of racing pigeons. And a family which is currently racing among the best in the world at all distances and winning TODAY. I emphasize, TODAY. Especially at longer distances. These Sions own much "class." That is seen by anyone who is experienced and knows racing pigeons. I maintain three main colors throughout my colony: Blue Bars, Silver Bars and Reds. Many of the reds being "brick reds" similar to Heitzman's iconic red cock "OLD 51."
I have been working with Sions longer than anyone in history. That includes Paul Sion, his son, Robert, and Charles Heitzman. I fell in love with them as a small boy. I believe the first word I probably ever spoke in the cradle was "Sion." That love remains to this day -- as an "old man" in my mid 70's. Every bird I breed is stamped with my name. As such, I do all I can to make certain any bird bred by me is of the highest quality. When I leave this world I want to be remembered through my Sions, family and the books which I have authored.
These Sions have been successful in the best one loft races in the world, including South Africa, The Victoria Falls, BIG ANDY'S OLR, as well as the Hoosier Classic. No other Sions anywhere in the world today have approached the results they have won in these major international races. PLEASE note, the last time I raced in THE VICTORIA FALLS RACE ---with a small team --I won FIRST BEST TEAM USA. The honorable Mike Ganus with his HUGE entry, winding up second to me. The first time I raced in The SOUTH AFRICA MILLION DOLLAR RACE, I also finished on the last and longest main race AHEAD of A-L-L of Mike Ganus' "famous hybrids." These facts are rarely mentioned.
In my 2024 breeding season I am using several of these birds which raced well in those major races as my breeders. They are perfect pigeons in appearances as well as in the hand. They are birds which have won at races which were under 1,000m yards per minute as well as birds which have won racing 2,300 yards a minute. They set long distance records in China winning at 1,000 KM and also at 700 KM, defeating entries of nearly 3,000 birds. These are the same Heitzman Sions which have won at the Tenerife Island Race where the birds must race over the water. These are the same Sions in which I have year after year trained the YOUNG BIRDS to race back to my lofts from 500, 600 and even 700 air miles. Four times I have taken YOUNG BIRDS 700 air miles down to Florida and have released them. And on every release did in fact get YOUNG BIRDS back. This happens to be WORLD RECORD LONG DISTANCES FOR YOUNG BIRDS. And these 700 mile young birds have gone on to be outstanding breeders for myself and others.
I am elated to announce in 2024, I will have my champion blue bar hen "SUMMERTIME" return-back to my loft from Africa. I owe this to my friend "JW" Jennings in North Carolina. She is the same hen which lead ALL of the entire USA (over 2,000 USA entries) in Africa in SEVERAL training tosses and races in the Africa series. At one point finishing 5th in the entire world out of the original near 10,000 entries. NO SION IN THE PAST FIFTY YEARS HAS ACCOMPLISHED SUCH AN INTERNATIONAL RACING SUCCESS. "SUMMERTIME" is a beautiful blue bar "NO SWEAT SION" hen, typical of my family of Sions. I will be using her blood throughout my lofts in years to come. As well as her full brothers and sisters. Note, "Summertime" was my mother's favorite song which I had played at her funeral.
In my life I have won over 1,600 first places with these Sions at all levels of competition. MY HEITZMAN SIONS website now has had 3.6 million "hits." More than any pigeon website in the world. A testament to the interest in my Sions. There is not a day which passes in which some fancier does not contact me to relay they won a race with one of my Sions. I spend time every day one way or the other devoted to my birds. If I go on a vacation there are fanciers calling and emailing me. I always respond. Emails are the best way to reach me.
[email protected]
This late summer placed a tough challenge on me with my Sions. For 20 years I had had my lofts on a friend's property. And because of a death in his family it came to pass I was given a short notice I would have to move my loft complex to some other place. I almost went into shock. Lost much sleep. But as it developed, I wound up buying five acres in the city of Richmond, Kentucky, about two minutes from my home. It could not have been a finer location for me or the birds. I then went about developing this farm land into a "Pigeon Paradise."
These five acres are located along a peaceful valley which has a creek and a partial forest. A serene setting which is abundant in wild life and nature. One of the only quiet places left within the city of Richmond, Kentucky. Where you happen to be in town but feel that you are some how far out in the country. No telephone poles or wires or any communication towers. Nothing but fresh open skies. A perfect place for the birds. After bringing in heavy equipment to level areas of the land I bought two large trucking containers which are 45 feet long and 9.5 feet tall and 8 feet wide. And I moved two of my old lofts which I had been using and also had them transported to the places where I wanted them to be. None of this was easy or cheap. All done with logistical planning and creative thought.
As an old man I was faced with either having to give up my pigeons or go whole hog into them. I wrestled with the ideas of both as when you are in your seventies it is easy to throw up a white flag, retire, give up so many things you once loved. We have all seen so many fanciers bow to this. I simply could not begin to stop being who I have always been. That boy in love with pigeons. I knew if I did anything like that I would never be happy. I would be haunted with that decision every day. So with the help of my great friend in North Carolina, JW JENNINGS, who helped me with money in being able to buy the five acres-- which were in an auction--- as I was 1,000 miles away on Singer Island, Florida at that time---and also with the help of my smart banker at the Community Trust Bank, Stephen Johnson, I was able to buy the property and dive head first into a huge--mammoth project which I believe only a hand full of old pigeon men would have ever dared. These four buildings then became the new center for what is now --unquestionably--the center of the world for SIONS. This is "the capital of all Sions." THE SION FLAGSHIP! This place is "SION CITY." It is a Sion empire! And certainly a place where I smile at those many fanciers who do not begin to understand or appreciate what a true family of racing pigeons happen to be. A family of Sions which I have created which has taken my entire life. And how so many "negatives" had to be conquered.
I remain that one place in Kentucky where you can see for yourself who notably SHINES with racing pigeons. There is no place in Kentucky for racing pigeons which possesses anything like what I have now established. You only need to visit my lofts to realize such. With my Sions I have NOT taken a route for "get rich quick" schemes promoting hybrids. "Every day a new bird or a "new car" on their slick-advertised car lot." Despite all the fancy rhetoric, those (used-car) fanciers are lacking in understanding what constituters a family. They understand genetics--NOT. And they are lacking in all the patience and hard work it takes to create a family. Now, after all these years, I can point at any bird I have and say that for ten straight generations I bred every single bird in that family. That is something neither Paul Sion or Charles Heitzman could ever do. And almost all of my Sions flew 500 miles or more as a young bird. There is no other fancier in North America who can do this. NONE. If I happen to be bragging, then yes, that is exactly what I am doing. I have earned it. After 66 years with the Sions and after 1,600 first places with them--yes, I have earned it. You cannot begin to imagine all the experiences which I have had with Sions. My family of NO SWEAT SIONS are winning TODAY and they are NOT Sions existing off of what their "great, great, great, great grandparents" did sixty years ago--as some so-called Sion fanicers enjoy advertising. You must keep the blood alive and active if you wish for success. A good racing pigeon man knows that. Elsewise you might as well breed a barn yard full of frying chickens who lay eggs and little else. Cluck cluck. And here is you a fancy pedigree. Click cluck.
I customized my new lofts to be FOR THE PIGEONS and not for myself. Almost every loft I have ever visited has been a loft designed FOR THE FANCIER and NOT for the pigeon. Over and over the same stuff. Typical monkey see-monkey do stuff sadly so rich in our unthinking sport. I am very proud of what these lofts are and what pigeons I have in them.
I have long observed, if you have exceedingly happy pigeons then you will have exceedingly healthy pigeons. And when you do this, you have an advantage. Birds love great open spaces, heights and sunshine. Nature decreed all this a gillion years ago. If you have not noted that --- then you have no business working with a pigeon. As such I have kept all the roosts and nests in these containers beginning at five feet in height and going up to the roof which is nearly 10 feet in height. I also cut out an entire half of the side of the walls of the containers. There is no heat in these wonderful spaces as you might begin to believe. Much the opposite. Extremely fine air as you would want for your birds if you give them every consideration. And when I did I utilized the walls and also bought new dog kennels which I converted into aviaries----I wrapped these dog kennels FOUR TIMES on the outside in all kinds of chicken wire, quarter of an inch wire and more--so as to prevent any hawk and anything else being able to manage to hurt any pigeon I own. A layer of four wires. But done nonetheless. My birds love it and the hawks hate it!
I now have all my Sions settled in these new lofts and I can report that almost on the very second they were released into this kind of environment --- they could not stop smiling. The birds are totally at home and more in love with this loft than I have ever seen any birds in any loft. They lounge around in these huge aviaries as if vacationers on Miami Beach. And when it comes to roosting they fly up to their high roosts and look down at me -- and smile. This is what making pigeons happy and healthy is all about. If the birds could talk they would tell you what they love and this would be it. Think for a moment what the wild pigeons most like when they find a place to survive and then use your mind to do what you can from that learning. IF you build a loft like everyone else then you are just another monkey doing what all the other monkeys do. And if you listen to what all the monkeys say--- It should not be so long that when you look in the mirror--you will find--another monkey.
I decided to paint all these new lofts a color called "DERBYSHIRE GREEN." I believed it best represented the "Kentucky Derby feeling" on that first Saturday in May. I know that Heitzman loved the color. It is a lucky Saint Patrick's Day color. And it is a great color to blend in with the natural settings which this loft complex owns. Green is the second most popular color in the world and I have done what I could to make it number one. I am in no way finished with the lofts. They will always remain a work in progress. I still have much to accomplish before I am satisfied. I will be "dressing up" the appearances of the lofts to eventually have them all a beautiful "show place." Rome was not built in a day.
I hope to be filming another video for my "you tube fan club" some time in the future. In this new video I hope to show some of all the new aspects of what has been developing. It feels good knowing that when I film a video that nearly a quarter of a million fanciers watch it. I get more views than most all the "experts" explaining their "pigeon stuff" combined. And now days, it is exactly so many of these experts touting they have the finest racing pigeons in the world-----who go about to do all they can to actually copy what I do.What a circus.
I hope you will closely study all these new photos which I mostly took in November, 2023, of my lofts and birds. These photos are many of the actual 2024 breeders I will be using and should give you a very good notion and idea as to the looks and quality of my family of Sions. I hope you enjoy looking at the new "SION EMPIRE" which has its kingdom in south eastern Kentucky. Kentucky has the finest thoroughbred race horses in the world. Second in racing only--only to my Sions!
Anyone wishing to contact me regarding SIONS or anything about my Sions---OR------would like to know more about my latest new book---- should please contact me. I am always happy to talk about racing pigeons and my books. My newest novel is called UNCLE MOSES AND ED HAWKINS. I am already working on another new book as I write even now.
I especially enjoy helping young fanciers get started and learn all they can about the sport. I like to give them solid advice. It is best to get off on the right foot. It is smarter to ivest in quality than to waste money on junk. So many fanciers will not take out the time it requires to help a new person in the sport. You never know how well you can help someone unless you try. And I love the older fanciers who email me to say they are getting back into the sport and love the Sions. And so many of you who knew Heitzman and enjoy living those times now back through me. PLEASE, it is always best to reach me by an email:
[email protected]
EARL LOWELL "ROBBIE" / "NO SWEAT" ROBBINS, JR.
207 LONGVIEW DRIVE
RICHMOND, KENTUCKY 40475
EMAIL: [email protected]
859-624-8113 HOME PHONE
606-782-4988 CELL PHONE
859-622-1448 WORK PHONE
859-582-0503 *MY WIFE'S PHONE---***THE BEST NUMBER TO CALL
WEBSITE: HEITZMAN SIONS
And what would this great sport be without all the freinds you have a chance to make and be with through life--that can be as much the bargain getting to be with the pigeons as the pigeons themselves. I run across individuals in the sport who are jealous of who I am or lacking in patience as well as in intelligence. But I kiss the sky every day for the genuine friends who I have managed to have made. I have lost many over the years, Charles Heitzman, Edna Scifres, Waldo Hotchkiss, Otto Meyer, Tony Melucci, John Garzoli, Joe Rotondo and so many others less famous in the sport. I am thankful to have Gary Stone and John McQuithy still alive and with me in this sport. We have been together since the 1950's raising these great Sions. Still carrying the torch. And I am thankful to count Jim Isselhardt as a friend who was a fierce competetor when I used to show and now remains a person I can talk with any day about the birds. Jim and I have been friends since the mid 1970's. And several years ago a fancier named JW Jennings in North Carolina came along to wind up now being a close friend. JW has proven such over and over. And I sense a new and wonderful friend in a man named Mike Clements in California of this past year. A fantastic person. It is these true friend fanciers who help me get out of bed every day and go feed and water the birds. It is these fanciers who are at my side when days are not so sunny. I love my Sions, truly. But I love my close pigeon friends, too.
EARL LOWELL "ROBBIE" / "No SweaT" ROBBINS, Jr.
AUTHOR OF:
THESE PRECIOUS DAYS
NEFARIOUS
VOLUME 1, SINGER ISLAND AND ERNEST HEMINGWAY
VOLUME 2. SINGER ISLAND AND ERNEST HEMINGWAY
LETTERS FROM A GENIUS TO AN OAF
BLACK BLUEGRASS
UNCLE MOSES AND ED HAWKINS
***ALWAYS BEST TO CONTACT ME BY AN EMAIL--------
EMAIL:
[email protected]
WELCOME to my HEITZMAN SION website. I AM that person well known throughout the world for his family of beautiful long distance racing pigeons. I hope that you will please take the time to look at these new photos which I have taken of my lofts and of my my family of Sions. Truly, there are no Sions on the planet today which compare.
Thank you.
I hope that you will enjoy and appreciate these new photos which I am using on this update. These are all photos which I took primarily in November, 2023 to show my new lofts and the new five acres on which they are located. I wanted to show the progress which has been made. And also the birds which I will be using as breeders in 2024. As Heitzman always said, "The Apple Does Not Fall Far From TheTree." My life with him is always with me wherever I go. Please know, these photos are like my pigeons. They are the "real deal" and have not been PHOTO-SHOPPED as you constantly see with so many people who advertise pigeons or have them on some website to be auctioned off. All those poor pigeons standing exactly the same way. And all of them with photo shopped wings and tails to hopefully fool you and make the poor pigeons "look good." Good heavens, the circus stuff these "experts" do these days. By now, you should know well who they are. You only need to look at their ads over and over. They figure if they control your minds then they will control your money.
I am trying to make this "SION EMPIRE" a great home for my family of Sions. The one true flagship for Sions. No person actually and truthfully has Sions like these. I have devoted my life to them. They are distinctly recognized for their abilities to race long distances. And also being the most beautiful racing homers in the world.
WELCOME---WELCOME to all you racing pigeon fanciers who love Sions. After 66 years of breeding pure Sions which I obtained from a man who was much my father, Mr. Charles Heitzman, an international legend who lived in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, also my home state----- I have now bred these Sions for so long they have now become my own family of Sions, known throughout the world as the "NO SWEAT SIONS."
I like to believe that I have honored Charles Heitzman. Assuredly, more than anyone. Today, I remain that individual who you can trust to have the finest and most pure actual racing Sions. These may well be the finest Sions which have ever existed. These are Sions as fine in your hand as they appear. Temperment. balance, tight vents, great feathering, closed backs---every small matter which constitutes a champion racing pigeon. This has not come about in a short time. Nor has it happened without expense and devotion. Please know, I am an author. My seventh novel was just released. The name of that book is, UNCLE MOSES AND ED HAWKINS. The novel is titled, UNCLE MOSES AND ED HAWKINS BY NO SWEAT. You see it photographed on this web site.
About 50 years ago, I began to write under the pen name "NO SWEAT." More people today know me by "NO SWEAT" than they do my actual name. My mail comes to "NO SWEAT." And now, these beautiful Sions I breed are called the "NO SWEAT SIONS." This is a true family of racing pigeons. Birds owning simialr appearances which are line bred back to many of the same Sion champions: "Le Rouselete", "Le-Roi", and others. I may well be that one last fancier in North America who has developed an actual true family of racing pigeons. And a family which is currently racing among the best in the world at all distances and winning TODAY. I emphasize, TODAY. Especially at longer distances. These Sions own much "class." That is seen by anyone who is experienced and knows racing pigeons. I maintain three main colors throughout my colony: Blue Bars, Silver Bars and Reds. Many of the reds being "brick reds" similar to Heitzman's iconic red cock "OLD 51."
I have been working with Sions longer than anyone in history. That includes Paul Sion, his son, Robert, and Charles Heitzman. I fell in love with them as a small boy. I believe the first word I probably ever spoke in the cradle was "Sion." That love remains to this day -- as an "old man" in my mid 70's. Every bird I breed is stamped with my name. As such, I do all I can to make certain any bird bred by me is of the highest quality. When I leave this world I want to be remembered through my Sions, family and the books which I have authored.
These Sions have been successful in the best one loft races in the world, including South Africa, The Victoria Falls, BIG ANDY'S OLR, as well as the Hoosier Classic. No other Sions anywhere in the world today have approached the results they have won in these major international races. PLEASE note, the last time I raced in THE VICTORIA FALLS RACE ---with a small team --I won FIRST BEST TEAM USA. The honorable Mike Ganus with his HUGE entry, winding up second to me. The first time I raced in The SOUTH AFRICA MILLION DOLLAR RACE, I also finished on the last and longest main race AHEAD of A-L-L of Mike Ganus' "famous hybrids." These facts are rarely mentioned.
In my 2024 breeding season I am using several of these birds which raced well in those major races as my breeders. They are perfect pigeons in appearances as well as in the hand. They are birds which have won at races which were under 1,000m yards per minute as well as birds which have won racing 2,300 yards a minute. They set long distance records in China winning at 1,000 KM and also at 700 KM, defeating entries of nearly 3,000 birds. These are the same Heitzman Sions which have won at the Tenerife Island Race where the birds must race over the water. These are the same Sions in which I have year after year trained the YOUNG BIRDS to race back to my lofts from 500, 600 and even 700 air miles. Four times I have taken YOUNG BIRDS 700 air miles down to Florida and have released them. And on every release did in fact get YOUNG BIRDS back. This happens to be WORLD RECORD LONG DISTANCES FOR YOUNG BIRDS. And these 700 mile young birds have gone on to be outstanding breeders for myself and others.
I am elated to announce in 2024, I will have my champion blue bar hen "SUMMERTIME" return-back to my loft from Africa. I owe this to my friend "JW" Jennings in North Carolina. She is the same hen which lead ALL of the entire USA (over 2,000 USA entries) in Africa in SEVERAL training tosses and races in the Africa series. At one point finishing 5th in the entire world out of the original near 10,000 entries. NO SION IN THE PAST FIFTY YEARS HAS ACCOMPLISHED SUCH AN INTERNATIONAL RACING SUCCESS. "SUMMERTIME" is a beautiful blue bar "NO SWEAT SION" hen, typical of my family of Sions. I will be using her blood throughout my lofts in years to come. As well as her full brothers and sisters. Note, "Summertime" was my mother's favorite song which I had played at her funeral.
In my life I have won over 1,600 first places with these Sions at all levels of competition. MY HEITZMAN SIONS website now has had 3.6 million "hits." More than any pigeon website in the world. A testament to the interest in my Sions. There is not a day which passes in which some fancier does not contact me to relay they won a race with one of my Sions. I spend time every day one way or the other devoted to my birds. If I go on a vacation there are fanciers calling and emailing me. I always respond. Emails are the best way to reach me.
[email protected]
This late summer placed a tough challenge on me with my Sions. For 20 years I had had my lofts on a friend's property. And because of a death in his family it came to pass I was given a short notice I would have to move my loft complex to some other place. I almost went into shock. Lost much sleep. But as it developed, I wound up buying five acres in the city of Richmond, Kentucky, about two minutes from my home. It could not have been a finer location for me or the birds. I then went about developing this farm land into a "Pigeon Paradise."
These five acres are located along a peaceful valley which has a creek and a partial forest. A serene setting which is abundant in wild life and nature. One of the only quiet places left within the city of Richmond, Kentucky. Where you happen to be in town but feel that you are some how far out in the country. No telephone poles or wires or any communication towers. Nothing but fresh open skies. A perfect place for the birds. After bringing in heavy equipment to level areas of the land I bought two large trucking containers which are 45 feet long and 9.5 feet tall and 8 feet wide. And I moved two of my old lofts which I had been using and also had them transported to the places where I wanted them to be. None of this was easy or cheap. All done with logistical planning and creative thought.
As an old man I was faced with either having to give up my pigeons or go whole hog into them. I wrestled with the ideas of both as when you are in your seventies it is easy to throw up a white flag, retire, give up so many things you once loved. We have all seen so many fanciers bow to this. I simply could not begin to stop being who I have always been. That boy in love with pigeons. I knew if I did anything like that I would never be happy. I would be haunted with that decision every day. So with the help of my great friend in North Carolina, JW JENNINGS, who helped me with money in being able to buy the five acres-- which were in an auction--- as I was 1,000 miles away on Singer Island, Florida at that time---and also with the help of my smart banker at the Community Trust Bank, Stephen Johnson, I was able to buy the property and dive head first into a huge--mammoth project which I believe only a hand full of old pigeon men would have ever dared. These four buildings then became the new center for what is now --unquestionably--the center of the world for SIONS. This is "the capital of all Sions." THE SION FLAGSHIP! This place is "SION CITY." It is a Sion empire! And certainly a place where I smile at those many fanciers who do not begin to understand or appreciate what a true family of racing pigeons happen to be. A family of Sions which I have created which has taken my entire life. And how so many "negatives" had to be conquered.
I remain that one place in Kentucky where you can see for yourself who notably SHINES with racing pigeons. There is no place in Kentucky for racing pigeons which possesses anything like what I have now established. You only need to visit my lofts to realize such. With my Sions I have NOT taken a route for "get rich quick" schemes promoting hybrids. "Every day a new bird or a "new car" on their slick-advertised car lot." Despite all the fancy rhetoric, those (used-car) fanciers are lacking in understanding what constituters a family. They understand genetics--NOT. And they are lacking in all the patience and hard work it takes to create a family. Now, after all these years, I can point at any bird I have and say that for ten straight generations I bred every single bird in that family. That is something neither Paul Sion or Charles Heitzman could ever do. And almost all of my Sions flew 500 miles or more as a young bird. There is no other fancier in North America who can do this. NONE. If I happen to be bragging, then yes, that is exactly what I am doing. I have earned it. After 66 years with the Sions and after 1,600 first places with them--yes, I have earned it. You cannot begin to imagine all the experiences which I have had with Sions. My family of NO SWEAT SIONS are winning TODAY and they are NOT Sions existing off of what their "great, great, great, great grandparents" did sixty years ago--as some so-called Sion fanicers enjoy advertising. You must keep the blood alive and active if you wish for success. A good racing pigeon man knows that. Elsewise you might as well breed a barn yard full of frying chickens who lay eggs and little else. Cluck cluck. And here is you a fancy pedigree. Click cluck.
I customized my new lofts to be FOR THE PIGEONS and not for myself. Almost every loft I have ever visited has been a loft designed FOR THE FANCIER and NOT for the pigeon. Over and over the same stuff. Typical monkey see-monkey do stuff sadly so rich in our unthinking sport. I am very proud of what these lofts are and what pigeons I have in them.
I have long observed, if you have exceedingly happy pigeons then you will have exceedingly healthy pigeons. And when you do this, you have an advantage. Birds love great open spaces, heights and sunshine. Nature decreed all this a gillion years ago. If you have not noted that --- then you have no business working with a pigeon. As such I have kept all the roosts and nests in these containers beginning at five feet in height and going up to the roof which is nearly 10 feet in height. I also cut out an entire half of the side of the walls of the containers. There is no heat in these wonderful spaces as you might begin to believe. Much the opposite. Extremely fine air as you would want for your birds if you give them every consideration. And when I did I utilized the walls and also bought new dog kennels which I converted into aviaries----I wrapped these dog kennels FOUR TIMES on the outside in all kinds of chicken wire, quarter of an inch wire and more--so as to prevent any hawk and anything else being able to manage to hurt any pigeon I own. A layer of four wires. But done nonetheless. My birds love it and the hawks hate it!
I now have all my Sions settled in these new lofts and I can report that almost on the very second they were released into this kind of environment --- they could not stop smiling. The birds are totally at home and more in love with this loft than I have ever seen any birds in any loft. They lounge around in these huge aviaries as if vacationers on Miami Beach. And when it comes to roosting they fly up to their high roosts and look down at me -- and smile. This is what making pigeons happy and healthy is all about. If the birds could talk they would tell you what they love and this would be it. Think for a moment what the wild pigeons most like when they find a place to survive and then use your mind to do what you can from that learning. IF you build a loft like everyone else then you are just another monkey doing what all the other monkeys do. And if you listen to what all the monkeys say--- It should not be so long that when you look in the mirror--you will find--another monkey.
I decided to paint all these new lofts a color called "DERBYSHIRE GREEN." I believed it best represented the "Kentucky Derby feeling" on that first Saturday in May. I know that Heitzman loved the color. It is a lucky Saint Patrick's Day color. And it is a great color to blend in with the natural settings which this loft complex owns. Green is the second most popular color in the world and I have done what I could to make it number one. I am in no way finished with the lofts. They will always remain a work in progress. I still have much to accomplish before I am satisfied. I will be "dressing up" the appearances of the lofts to eventually have them all a beautiful "show place." Rome was not built in a day.
I hope to be filming another video for my "you tube fan club" some time in the future. In this new video I hope to show some of all the new aspects of what has been developing. It feels good knowing that when I film a video that nearly a quarter of a million fanciers watch it. I get more views than most all the "experts" explaining their "pigeon stuff" combined. And now days, it is exactly so many of these experts touting they have the finest racing pigeons in the world-----who go about to do all they can to actually copy what I do.What a circus.
I hope you will closely study all these new photos which I mostly took in November, 2023, of my lofts and birds. These photos are many of the actual 2024 breeders I will be using and should give you a very good notion and idea as to the looks and quality of my family of Sions. I hope you enjoy looking at the new "SION EMPIRE" which has its kingdom in south eastern Kentucky. Kentucky has the finest thoroughbred race horses in the world. Second in racing only--only to my Sions!
Anyone wishing to contact me regarding SIONS or anything about my Sions---OR------would like to know more about my latest new book---- should please contact me. I am always happy to talk about racing pigeons and my books. My newest novel is called UNCLE MOSES AND ED HAWKINS. I am already working on another new book as I write even now.
I especially enjoy helping young fanciers get started and learn all they can about the sport. I like to give them solid advice. It is best to get off on the right foot. It is smarter to ivest in quality than to waste money on junk. So many fanciers will not take out the time it requires to help a new person in the sport. You never know how well you can help someone unless you try. And I love the older fanciers who email me to say they are getting back into the sport and love the Sions. And so many of you who knew Heitzman and enjoy living those times now back through me. PLEASE, it is always best to reach me by an email:
[email protected]
EARL LOWELL "ROBBIE" / "NO SWEAT" ROBBINS, JR.
207 LONGVIEW DRIVE
RICHMOND, KENTUCKY 40475
EMAIL: [email protected]
859-624-8113 HOME PHONE
606-782-4988 CELL PHONE
859-622-1448 WORK PHONE
859-582-0503 *MY WIFE'S PHONE---***THE BEST NUMBER TO CALL
WEBSITE: HEITZMAN SIONS
And what would this great sport be without all the freinds you have a chance to make and be with through life--that can be as much the bargain getting to be with the pigeons as the pigeons themselves. I run across individuals in the sport who are jealous of who I am or lacking in patience as well as in intelligence. But I kiss the sky every day for the genuine friends who I have managed to have made. I have lost many over the years, Charles Heitzman, Edna Scifres, Waldo Hotchkiss, Otto Meyer, Tony Melucci, John Garzoli, Joe Rotondo and so many others less famous in the sport. I am thankful to have Gary Stone and John McQuithy still alive and with me in this sport. We have been together since the 1950's raising these great Sions. Still carrying the torch. And I am thankful to count Jim Isselhardt as a friend who was a fierce competetor when I used to show and now remains a person I can talk with any day about the birds. Jim and I have been friends since the mid 1970's. And several years ago a fancier named JW Jennings in North Carolina came along to wind up now being a close friend. JW has proven such over and over. And I sense a new and wonderful friend in a man named Mike Clements in California of this past year. A fantastic person. It is these true friend fanciers who help me get out of bed every day and go feed and water the birds. It is these fanciers who are at my side when days are not so sunny. I love my Sions, truly. But I love my close pigeon friends, too.
EARL LOWELL "ROBBIE" / "No SweaT" ROBBINS, Jr.
AUTHOR OF:
THESE PRECIOUS DAYS
NEFARIOUS
VOLUME 1, SINGER ISLAND AND ERNEST HEMINGWAY
VOLUME 2. SINGER ISLAND AND ERNEST HEMINGWAY
LETTERS FROM A GENIUS TO AN OAF
BLACK BLUEGRASS
UNCLE MOSES AND ED HAWKINS
***ALWAYS BEST TO CONTACT ME BY AN EMAIL--------
EMAIL:
[email protected]
