A Tribute to Ron Davis

As Jacobin breeders we need to take the time to recognize that there are people in our hobby who have contributed greatly to the advancement of our breed who do not seek glory and recognition but are simply satisfied to quietly go about their business. The "Master Breeders" in the U.S. are some of the great breeders in the world but I must say there is at least one name that is absent from this list that should have been there years ago. That person is Ron Davis. The U.S. Master Breeder Program for Jacobins is set up in a way that a breeder or someone who knows that breeder must submit show results and other information to the NPA to achieve this honor. Ron is the most modest man I know. He would never boast about his accomplishments in order to get such an award. Ron has won as many Championships as many other recognized Master Breeders and he has done it by breeding from far less birds than most. Ron only keeps a very few birds in each color and always is in the running in the toughest competition. To add to this Ron lets other fanciers have access to many of his best birds. I have seen him on several occasions leave a show without his winning birds only to have given them to another fancier who Ron wanted to help out and then come back and win the next year with fresh young birds. Ron's family and friends are the most important things in his life. He has never gone out and spent big money on stock - instead he just bred great birds from what he could acquire. His understanding of how to mate his birds to produce better is remarkable and his accomplishments speak for themselves. Over the past 20 years I have acquired several key breeding birds from Ron to help my program along. All of them sight unseen. Simply by telling him what I needed he sent me exactly the features I had requested and in doing so Ron's birds have made a huge positive impact on my own stud of Jacobins and I will wager that there are many more breeders who will say the same about this wonderful man. I for one am honored to have such a wonderful person as a friend and what Ron has done for the breed is beyond words. Ron Davis is a true Master Breeder in every sense of the word.