Fair has a whole lotta llamas
Sep 24 2003
Centaurs, unicorns, wyverns?
Probably not, but unique and peculiar critters nonetheless will be featured at the first annual Alternative Livestock Fair at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds next month.
The fair is a fundraiser to benefit StillPointe, a sanctuary that includes a llama rescue and educational program in Sequim. The fair is Saturday, Oct. 11, 9 a.m.-7 p.m., at the Fairgrounds in the E Barn.
Admission is simply a tax-deductible donation.
Most of the animals at the fair will be goats, llamas and alpacas all coveted for their wool. Goats can be found all over the world, but llamas and alpacas are found in South America.
Therell be demonstrations on cleaning fleece, an orchard-grass feed raffle, spinning wool, fleece and roving-type wool, testing for parasites, dwarf Nigerian goats to be auctioned, felting, a veterinary Q&A, a fundraising dream dinners raffle, goat-hoof trimming and more, said Denise Button, organizer of the fair.
She said there will be a used book and magazine sale; vendors, music, animals, animals and more animals. Adding there will be birds, too.
The festival is a non-profit operation to benefit abandoned rare animals.
Button said 41 years ago I fell in love with a cria (baby llama) at the San Francisco Zoo. I threw a fit and wouldnt leave the little woolie. I had to be carried out by my bewildered parents. Between then and now Ive always had a special place in my heart for them and have managed to find a farm where I could visit them.
A couple of years ago she met Chela Grey of StillPointe through a llama-owning friend, Alelia Tallon, at one of Chelas fundraising car washes.
I visited her sanctuary in Carlsborg, just outside Sequim, and found it to be a little bit of heaven for a llama nut. I began planning to adopt a couple of her rescued llamas and was elated that a life-long dream was coming true.
She said StillPointe is a struggling non-profit group. The llama population has been increasing and volunteer help has been decreasing.
I have been involved in several fundraisers over the last six years weve lived in Poulsbo. I was the Popcorn Kernel for Cub Scout pop corn sales, worked on their Christmas wreath sale, Ive been the Cookie Mom for Girl Scouts.
StillPointe owners wanted to do another car wash to raise money.
But I wanted something bigger, more profitable, she said. Why not an Alternative Animal Fair for breeders and wannabe owners and breeders in Western Washington?
I began to investigate and was surprised and intrigued by all of the miniature, dwarf, babydoll, and pygmy livestock that exist. I found out about pygora goats (pygmy and angora-mohair goat bloodlines) and purchased a couple of doelings in June from Red Hawk Ridge Farm in Oregon.
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