Sheep Industry News November 2021

Trailing of the Sheep Festival Celebrates 25 Years in Style CAROL WALLER CW Communications T hey came from all over the United States and several foreign countries to a small community in Idaho to celebrate the 25th anniversary year of one of the most unique events in the world – the Trailing of the Sheep Festival. They came to eat and cook lamb, get creative with wool, sayist and former Wyoming sheep rancher Gretel Ehrlich, who was keynote speaker at the Sheep Tales Gathering and through the Peruvian Ballet Folklorica performance of the Utah Hispanic Dance Alliance and Chaskis Peruvian musicians. A new Trailing of the Sheep Festival Cookbook was created fea turing authentic recipes from Idaho ranch families and festival friends, and there was a special 25th anniversary quilt made up of 15 individually created, sheep-related quilt squares raffled off to one lucky winner.

watch top sheep dogs in action, hear stories of life on the land from sheep ranching icons and families – including ASI Secre tary/Treasurer Ben Lehfeldt – and watch a band of 1,500 sheep parade through the center of town. From Oct. 6-10, an estimated crowd of 25,000 came to soak in the celebration in Idaho's Sun Valley. "We created this event 25 years ago to educate the new resi dents of the Sun Valley area on the long history and heritage of sheep ranching here," said Flat Top Sheep Company rancher John Peavey. He is the Trailing of the Sheep Festival co-founder (along with his wife Diane), and the Festival’s current board chair, as well as a lifelong industry veteran, ASI member, third generation rancher and a visionary who was inspired to turn a conflict into an opportunity for understanding. "There were many people moving here who were surprised to see sheep trailing to winter and summer pastures on 'their bike path' and were not particularly happy about it," Peavey explained. "So, we took the opportunity to tell them that the bike path could not have been built without the sheep ranchers allow ing their designated traditional right of way to be used for it and we invited them to trail the sheep with us. "Over the years the festival has grown into a multi-day event showcasing the various aspects of the sheep industry – the culture, the cuisine, the history, the people, the stories and of course, the sheep, and now it is a nationally recognized and beloved community event," he added. For its 25th anniversary year, festival organizers created sever al special programs and projects, many of them in keeping with the storytelling goals that are part of the weekend. This year The Good Shepherd monument – a legacy tribute which includes 11 life-sized bronze sculptures featuring eight sheep, a sheepherder, horse and dog was dedicated in Hailey, Idaho. “There are memories and histories in the face of the monu ment’s shepherd and in the words in the pavers surrounding the figures,” Peavey explained. Festival co-founder and Artist Director Diane Josephy Peavey noted the importance of stories that were shared by author, es

The festival’s Folklife Fair was filled with more than 60 unique vendor booth selling all types of hand-crafted sheep and wool related products and food, including American lamb. There were also live demonstrations of sheep shearing and spinning, sheep wagon displays and performances by cultural groups including the Boise Highlanders, Oinkari Basque dancers and Peruvian dancers and musicians. The Championship Sheep Dog Trials were expanded to four days this year and had nearly 100 competitors from around the western United States and Canada. Taking home top honors was handler Diana Sylvestre with dog Jemma from Hopland, Calif. The stories and lives of Idaho ranchers have always been an integral part of the festival programming, and this year was no exception. They included John, Diane, Tom, and Cory Peavey from Flat Top Sheep Company – whose sheep were used in the popular Championship Sheep Dog Trials – John Faulkner and John Etchart of Faulkner Land & Livestock – whose sheep were brought down the mountains and paraded through downtown Ketchum while thousands of spectators lined the streets – and the stories of Cindy Siddoway, Cory Peavey and Dennis Burks, who participated in the Sheep Ranching Q&A session. This year, the American Lamb Board hosted a group of jour nalists and bloggers to experience the festival and expose these prominent food influencers to the rich history and heritage of sheep in the area. The group was immersed in festival activities from cooking classes to the lamb dine around, to the sheep dog trials and the famous Big Sheep Parade. Many of the participants have already shared their experiences at the festival on their social media channels. "Our guests spent the fun-filled weekend celebrating the sheep industry and came away with a new appreciation for how deli cious American lamb makes it to their plates," said ALB Execu tive Director Megan Wortman. Start planning now to attend the 26th annual Trailing of the Sheep Festival on Oct. 5-9, 2022.

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