The 48th Sheep and Woolcraft Fair which took place Memorial Day weekend at the Cummington Fairground in Cummington, MA, hosted a series of firsts.
Dillon Harris of Ludlow, MA, was minding the Harris Farm sheep in the barn with his girlfriend, Anna Casagrande. Among their awards, they had won Champion Ram and Champion Ewe in the Shropshire breeds, and the day wasn’t over yet.
Dillon is fourth generation sheep breeder. He has been showing sheep “since he was born.” Last year, their Shropshire ewe won Best Face at the 2023 Northeast Youth Sheep Show (NEYSS).
The Shropshire breed was first imported to the U.S. before the 1900. According to the Livestock Conservancy, Shropshires are one of the few black-faced sheep listed on their priority watch list.
Harris Farm was started in 1970 by Dillon’s grandparents, Judy and Peter Harris. They met at Ludlow’s first 4-H club that was started by Judy’s parents, Tom and Elsie Hiersche of Ludlow.
“I was nine years old at the time,” said Judy, in the fair’s sheep barn with her family.
A Vietnam veteran achieved many military awards and a well-known icon on the show circuit, Peter passed away in 2011.
The family raises 50 sheep on 20 acres and grows their own hay to feed all the sheep and two beef cows. “It’s fun, a lot of hard work – very enjoyable,” said Dillon. His younger brothers Tyler, Connor and Peter Priest all show sheep too.
For first-time exhibitors, the fair offers an extremely supportive environment to begin raising one’s agriculture star. There were 11 participants in five different age groups in the Lead Line Pageant that took place Sunday afternoon.
It was Mila Covert’s first show ever. She led her Jacob sheep named Beatrix. Her mother said she thought they had traveled the farthest, as they drove up from Chester Springs, PA.
Evelyn Springstube, 6, placed first with her Shetland in the Cloverbud Division.
This was Grace Thayer’s second year showing in the pageant. At age 4, she placed third with her Hampshire ewe. She is the granddaughter of the late Clifford Thayer, one of the fair’s founders. Another icon in the agricultural community, among his many honors, he was inducted into the Northeast Suffolk Sheep Breeders Hall of Fame at the Big E in 2015. Grace’s aunt is Fair Committee Co-Chair Shawn Thayer (Clifford’s daughter).
“He would be happy that the fair is continuing, and that he had four grandchildren in the fair,” said Shawn, who now is at the helm of Splendorview Farm, where her father and family raised their purebred sheep in Cummington. Other grandchildren that were present were Grace’s brother Logan Thayer and Olivia and Taylor Mason.
Over the weekend, Shawn estimated that from 12,000 to 15,000 people attended the fair.
For Michaela Krafve of Winchendon, MA, of Krafve Farm, this event was her first of the year out of 12 fairs on her schedule. She raises Katahdins and the heritage breeds Barbados Blackbelly and Jacobs. Barbados Blackbelly sheep are listed on the Livestock Conservancy’s priority list as “recovering,” and therefore placed their watch list. Jacobs are listed as threatened.
Michaela’s sheep earned six champion ribbons, including two for a Champion Ram and two for a Champion Ewe.
She grew up showing beef cows and then switched to raising sheep, finding it easier on the budget. “They’re pretty easy, more fun and they are good moms,” she said.
Michaela sells meat and fleece through word of mouth and through her Facebook page. She had 16 sheep at the fair and 50 more at home.
Katahdin and Barbados Blackbelly are hair breeds so they don’t need to be sheared. Dating back to the 1600s, Barbados Blackbelly sheep have the distinctive feature of having intact tails, as they are not docked at birth.
According to the Katahdin Hair Sheep International website, the breed was developed by Michael Piel of Maine, who imported a small number of hair sheep from the Caribbean in the 1950s to combine and enhance their traits with the meat-producing traits of the wool breeds. He named the resulting hybrid strain of 20 ewes Katahdins for Mount Katahdin.
In the craft barn, one of the many exhibitors was Freia Fine Hardpaint Yarns, overseen by Tina Whitmore and Kathline Carr of North Adams, MA. Their brilliantly colored yarns are made of merino wool from sheep raised on farms in the Rockies. They also offer merino/silk blends.
In 2023, Freia’s was named one of the top five trendsetters in the yarn industry by Interweave, an online yarn magazine that features yarn, craft supplies, craft and fiber shows and events. Interweave is currently organizing international events such as the upcoming 2025 Sheep to Shawl Knitting Adventure in Ireland – a knitter’s dream.
by Laura Rodley
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