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Date: 5-25-01
AMERICAN MOSAIC #819 - Sheep and Wool Festival
By Shelley Gollust
HOST:
About fifty-thousand people enjoyed the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival earlier this month. Shep O'Neal tells us about what they saw.
ANNCR:
The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is held every year at the Howard County Fairgrounds, north of Washington, D-C. The two day festival supports sheep and products made of wool. This is the twenty-eighth year it has been held. The festival provides information for people who raise sheep. And it has many activities for the public.It is the largest event of its kind in the country.
People who raise sheep can enter several competitions at the festival.There are competitions for the best sheep and the best wool. Another competition includes teams that try to cut the fleece off a sheep, spin the wool into yarn, and weave a piece of clothing all in one day.
Visitors to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival can see about one-thousand sheep of many different kinds. They can watch people make clothing of wool. They can buy many kinds of yarns, knitted clothing and other hand-made objects. Visitors also can hear traditional musical performances and watch colorful ethnic dancers. They can learn how to cook lamb.And they can taste many good foods.
The Maryland Sheep and Wood Festival has demonstrations to help people who raise sheep. For example, experts tell how to provide the best diet for female sheep. They also show how to test animal wastes for harmful organisms.
One of the most popular events at the festival is the working sheepdog demonstration. Sheepdogs are dogs that are specially trained to work with sheep. Visitors can watch the dogs as they compete to move a group of sheep. The sheepdogs are skilled at getting the sheep to move in the right direction to a desired place.
The Maryland Sheep Breeders Association organizes the festival.The group provides education and marketing support for the sheep industry in the state.
This year the group wanted to recognize the European farmers who have lost their animals because of foot-and-mouth disease. So many visitors to the festival signed their names in a special "get well" book for farmers in Europe.
Source: www.voa.gov/special/