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Md. Sheep and Wool Festival rolling on
5.13.2008
WEST FRIENDSHIP, Md. — The annual nationally renowned Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is a freebee. No admission is charged.
Thus, there is no sure-bet way to count attendance, but estimates yearly range up to 25,000 for the two-day event at the Howard County Fairgrounds.
This year’s festival was held May 3 and 4 and as usual was described as “huge,” “crowded,” “wall-to- wall people,” and under those circumstances, “a huge success.”
Among the seemingly never-ending array of attractions is the Sheep and Wool Skillathon, now in its third year under the direction of Susan Schoenian, University of Maryland Extension sheep and goat specialist.
The Skillathon competitions are offered to 4-Hers in three grade levels and at 10 “learning stations.”
This year’s event attracted 95 4-Hers from six states and 13 Maryland counties.
They are challenged, appropriately at either the junior, intermediate or senior level, to identify breeds from wool and diseases from pictures.
They are also quizzed about hay, feeds and forages and the seniors were required to form teams and create various rations. For live animal judging, Schoenian this year offered — and tried to stump them with — the Karakul breed from Central Asia.
As the 4-Hers progress through the 10 stations, they accumulate points which, when tallied, will provide the top 10 winners in each of the age categories.
The tallying responsibility falls to Schoenian who said the results would be announced soon.