[…]
In late May, I got such a request from Gary and Judy Berthiaume, the publicity directors for the California State Racing Pigeon Organization (CSRPO), who were trying to put together an article about Disney and pigeons for their August newsletter.
They had spent many frustrating weeks being shuffled around to different departments at Disney with no success. They were told that there was no connection between Walt Disney and pigeons.
Of course, they knew better because, for more than a half-century, every year, CSRPO has awarded the Walt Disney Trophy.
The Walt Disney Trophy is a perpetual award that can never be retired, as long as the CSRPO is in existence. Its stated purpose is “to enhance the sport of racing pigeons within the state of California and to commemorate the name of Mr. Walt Disney.”
It was originally sponsored by Walt himself.
In their research, the Berthiaumes had come across a MousePlanet article I had written about the pigeon release at the 1960 Winter Olympics.
They knew that the first trophy was given in 1960 by Walt personally, but had little other information to go on since as they wrote, “Our state records were lost in a fire in the mid-1990s, so we're traveling on hearsay and researching where leads take us. Your input is the most we have plus a picture of the actual trophy and Walt's signature on, what appears to be, CSRPO letterhead.”
[…]
