SEQUIM — Soft, fleecy animals, plus woolly hats, rugs, scarves and shawls will be abundant Monday, Memorial Day during the annual Shepherds’ Festival at the Sequim Prairie Grange, 290 Macleay Road.
This is a celebration of one warm, renewable resource, said Ellen Lloyd, one of the fiber-animal lovers who works each year to make the free festival happen.
“It’s a very green affair,” Lloyd said of the event, which will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday.
Along with sheep-shearing demonstrations by professional shearer Tim Sorg of Chehalis, the Shepherds’ Festival features local people who spin their own yarn from the wool of Sequim-Port Angeles area sheep, llamas and other animals.
Petting zoo
The Lambchops 4-H Club of Sequim will set up a miniature petting farm, added Cyndie Stumbaugh, another festival organizer. Lambs, pygmy goats, guinea pigs and chickens will be on hand.
The festival will have no piglets this year, she said, because of concerns about swine flu.
Stumbaugh emphasized that hand sanitizer is plentiful at the petting farm, and the grange hall has restrooms for further hand-washing.
There’s no charge to attend the festival, though food, beverages and handcrafted items will be on sale.
When asked what her favorite part of the festival is, Stumbaugh didn’t hesitate: “the lamb kabobs, even after working in the kitchen all day.”
Lloyd added that this is a chance for families to see where wool sweaters and other soft fashions come from.
She runs Olga’s Yurt of Fiber, a Port Angeles firm that turns sheep wool into roving for local people who know how to spin their own yarns.
Among them is Debi Breitbach-Glass, who creates apparel and home decor accessories from many kinds of fur and fleece. She’s even made hats out of freshly groomed fur given to her by friends with dogs.
Breitbach-Glass will be among the vendors on Monday, along with members of the North Olympic Shuttle & Spindle Guild, who’ll demonstrate the traditional craft of wool-spinning.
“Come enjoy the weather,” Lloyd said, “and an old-fashioned time.”
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladaily news.com.
