April 17-20. (Shepherds Extravaganza).
Puyallup Fairgrounds, WA as part of the Puyallup Spring Fair.
One of the biggest fleece sales around and lots of booths. If you are
into wool, the fleece show is worth the visit. Kirsten Holbro was the judge this year and
that is another knowledgeable young lady. We learned a lot. Also a ton of demonstrations.
Margaret had our sales booth (and friends helped out) plus some animals. This is the 30th anniversary of the
Extravaganza and some of the volunteers who put on this show have been there the whole time. That's quite a record.
There is lots of satisfaction for a job well done, but a little word of thanks never
hurts.
Due to an outbreak near the end of the fall fair of a rare disease, carried by sheep (but harmless to them) and fatal to cattle, the Extravaganza was not allowed to have sheep this year.
Margaret had a great show in terms of fleece and sheep sales. Joyce Harrell came down and
helped early and daughter Lori and Gary helped out on Sunday. Lots of nice people.
May 26. Shepherds Festival. Grange Hall, Sequim, WA. This is the third year they've had the Festival
at the Grange hall on the west side of Sequim and it worked well. Not sure of the name of the Hall, but signs and local
papers should cover it. It's a fun little show with booths (including ours),
spinners, weavers, some 4-H animals and others. If you've followed this page in the past you know that Margaret
and I have a habit of marking certain shows by the food item(s) they have. It seems like every fair has a special that we
particularly like. Would you say we're food oriented? Probably!! The Shepherds Festival is famous for their lamb chili
and lamb kebobs. If you came all the way to Sequim and walked right past our booth and into the food line, I'd understand.
You may find me ahead in line, but it's OK, they never run out.
This is another one of those shows where a small dedicated group works very hard putting on this show just for you,
either exhibitor or visitor. Without them it wouldn't exist. If you enjoy yourself, give them a word of thanks. We'll
point them out for you, if you like.
Sequim was all it's glorious self. Pretty decent weather and a great crowd. The show went well
and we made some new friends and saw lots of old ones. The chili and kebobs were wonderful.
June 22-24. Black Sheep Gathering.
Lane County Fairgrounds, Eugene, Oregon.
Years ago we always attended this show, even when it was down in Cottage Grove, Oregon across the creek from the stock
car track. We have loved it ever since, but we've changed our operation some. Rather than taking sheep and working our
tails off all weekend, we use it as a busmans holiday. We just take ourselves and spend the weekend bothering our
friends. It's usually the highlight of our summer. We know, at least casually, most of the people there and it's
our best opportunity all year to get to spend some quality time. If you can make it, and you shouldn't miss it,
keep an eye out for us just strolling around gabbing or sitting in the stands cheering on the sheep shows.
This was an unusual year for us at the Gathering. Colette Culver (who always puts up with us at her place) had a hip replacement right before the show and
her sister Sharon came up from Texas to help take care of her. We joined in as best we could and as always, had a great time.
Those two together are more than twice as much fun. I think there is a symbiotic increase. By the way, the
hip is doing extremely well.
August 14-16> Jefferson County Fair.
Port Townsend, WA.
Jefferson County Fair is our home fair so we always enjoy seeing our friends and neighbors. Jeff. Cty. is a really small,
hometown kind of fair. The livestock shows are a real highlight and the 4-H kids are out in force. We used to have a
really top-rated sheepherding dog trial that ran 2 full days and I could have spent all my time there.
Unfortunately, the times caught up with us and it was replaced by a 4-wheel mud race. Nuff said!
We are one of the biggest contingents in the Open Class Sheep show and consider it a privilege to help represent
Jefferson County and the sheep industry here at home. There are seldom very many other Romneys present,
so we usually do well by default (we encourage the 4-H kids to show in the Open Class too). However, it's
always good to be able to promote Romneys.
The numbers were down again in the fair. The terrible rise in cost of feed has caused quite a few folks to
severely reduce their livestock numbers. This was our year for family and friend weddings (3 in 8 days) so we had to sneak
out on Saturday for a wedding. The sheep, the fleeces, and the wedding all went well.
August 26-30. Kitsap County Fair Silverdale, WA.
Kitsap is our old home fair and so we are usually heavily involved. Margaret is the Wool Show
Superintendent and Gary runs the 'Lads and Ladies Lead' (we both get lots of help from Joyce Harrell and Marybeth
Nightingale and their lovely daughters). Delores Still is the Asst. Supt for the Wool Show.
Joyce is the Sheep Supt. and does a great job. Marybeth's daughter Elizabeth is the 4H Supt extraordinaire.
You can expect a fine show for both sheep and wool. The Lads and Ladies Lead is well
attended and you'll see a nice tribute to the Wonderful World of Wool! If you're a rodeo fan, Kitsap is recognized
as one of the best in the country.
We had a great time at Kitsap this year. As we expected, Joyce, Marybeth, Elizabeth, and Leah covered all their jobs with
class and skill, and still found time to help us. Grandma Marybeth spent a lot of time taking care of last years baby.
The sheep did OK but Adrian Voelker and her Romneys were here again and this time Adrian kicked a little tail. We were so
pleased for her.
Margarets fleeces pretty well cleaned up in the show and we put our usual serious dent in the
Scone Wagon too. The number of entries in 'The Lads and Ladies
Lead' was up considerably over last year and the show was great. We had some really nice prizes donated by local business
folks.
That covers our show season as we know it now. If you would like to contact us about specific show dates, please E-mail us here at SPRING HILL FARM
Although our sheep, fleeces, and wool products are always for sale here on the web and
at the farm (please e-mail or call
for an appointment), we have one special date you might like to visit. On Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 we will
have our Fall Harvest Sale here at Spring Hill Farm. We clean out the barn and bring all our products, raw and
processed, down with a few sheep thrown in. We always have spinners and some other demonstrations, such as
felting, wood carvers and shearing. We're open from 10-4. If you're in the area, or live locally, please
drop by.