CO-OP PEOPLE
Life with Co-op member has made a lifelong pursuit of the iconic homers. STORY AND PHOTOS BY W.H. “CHIP” GROSS
M
ost men, believing ourselves invincible at one time or another in our lives, can think back to boyhood and remember doing at least one thing so incredibly dangerous that we were lucky to survive. Consolidated Cooperative member Guy Denny is no exception. Raised in a rural area just south of Toledo, Denny would often fish the nearby Maumee River as a boy. It’s there he noticed pigeons coming to roost each evening under the Interstate-80 Ohio Turnpike bridge that crosses the river. Wanting to capture some of those pigeons to raise, Denny decided on a plan. After dark one night, he and a young buddy climbed out on the massive, metal I-beams that support the bridge. There, beneath the bridge, with cars whizzing past just a few feet overheard, his buddy shined a flashlight beam into the eyes of the mesmerized pigeons while Denny grabbed them one by one and shoved the birds into a burlap bag. The boys’ poke
12 OHIO COOPERATIVE LIVING • APRIL 2021
pigeons
