Vic’s Legacy
His Story .... His Legacy
Yes in Deed... Quite the Legend ...
With Quite the Story to Tell....
For those of you that don’t know him, his name is Victor Hennig. Otherwise known as, the “4-Way Guy”, hence the name… 4-Way Loft.
As a young lad growing up in Germany, he began racing pigeons after the dust settled in the post-war-torn country. In 1949, at the age of 12, he competed in his first race. In 1952, at the age of 15, he took 1st place winning his first race. He was overjoyed and adored his pigeons. He left Germany in 1957, at the age of 20, and traveled to America. He gave all of his pigeons to a young lad from his hometown in Germany.
Humble Beginnings____
Despite all the obstacles he faced upon immigrating to the United States in 1957, his love for pigeons remained strong. Within his first 15 years of immigrating, he learned how to speak English, learned the block-laying trade, joined and served in the US army, married, had children, and built his family home himself. Not bad for a German lad not knowing what to expect when he came to the US not knowing a lick of English—arriving as Viktor but then changed to Victor. He was finally settled and eager to build a loft and join a club.
Did I mention he spoke fluent German and Russian? To learn English, he started watching every John Wayne film. As a result, he began calling everybody, particularly the guys he worked with on his construction sites, “Say there, Pilgrim,” anytime he wanted to speak with them. So, yep, in his view, this was American English slang…lol. He didn’t worry about learning names since he called everyone “Pilgrim”.
Meet Vic ~ He Sure Loved his Pigeons!
The Making of a Legend... Started Here...
Victor joined the North Star Pigeon Racing Club in 1972. As fate would have it, he won multiple races that year, including the Twin City Concourse in Minnesota and the races held in his club.
Vic was the kind of person who, by nature, loved the concept of competition in general, so you can only imagine how those victories later on truly sparked his competitive spirit and enabled him to succeed in racing.
In 1975, Victor left the North Star Club and joined the Minneapolis Pigeon Club. He served as the Concourse and Club’s Trailers Chairman for more than 10 years. He spearheaded the development of the Blaine, Minnesota Airport’s Hanger, where the Minneapolis Pigeon Club still resides today.
Sadly, he has since passed. I know he would want his bloodline and legacy to live on, thus we are making his bloodline and many years of race knowledge available to all of you via this website.
Some of Vic's Very First Wins... Champions...
