Sheep Industry News November 2024

across the country this year to honor Jake’s grandfather, who was not only a vocal advocate for the regional and national con tributions of sheep ranching, but who also served as an Idaho state senator who fought for government transparency and to protect the state’s land and water. John Peavey succeeded his mother, Mary Brooks, in the Idaho Senate after she was appointed director of the U.S. Mint by President Richard Nixon. He served in the role from 1969 until 1976, and again from 1978 to 1994. Waller, who got to know John Peavey well through the years, called him a “classic, salt-of-the-earth, Western rancher guy. But he was also very sharp and a visionary. “His persona hid the depths of his character. He was humble, soft spoken and funny. He had a great sense of humor. He was a rancher who loved the land and his family. He was the real deal.” Jake Peavey described his grandfather as a very hard worker and “one of the smartest men I’ve ever known.” John Peavey’s ability to collaborate and build consensus – as he did with the bikers on the trail – was a hallmark of his legisla tive career, Waller said. “He was all about conflict resolution and finding common ground. He had to reach across the aisle and compromise to get a lot of things done. And he always did it quietly and effectively,” she said. As to why the festival only grows in its offerings and popularity, Waller pointed to its uniqueness and authenticity. “It’s not a

reenactment,” she noted. The Big Sheep Parade is part of the actual movement of sheep up and down the valley that has been taking place for more than 150 years. She also noted the range of events and activities holding a wide variety of ap peal to every age and interest. Waller recalls naysayers in the festival’s earliest days questioning how she and the Peaveys were going to build a successful festival around sheep. Today those same people will never admit having been a doubter, she joked. “The community embraced it and the whole world embraced it,” she said. Jake Peavey recently returned to the fam ily’s ranch, rejoining his brother and father in the line of work that he described as chal lenging but also very rewarding. “I’d rather be here and doing everything I can to make it work than do anything else,” he said. He said he loves the solitude and peacefulness of the ranch, and “being able to step outside and look into the night sky and see thousands of stars. It’s absolutely magnificent.” He said he’s also happy to be back with his family, and brought along his new wife, to whom he proposed in the middle of the 2022 Big Sheep Parade. Until the very last weeks of his grand father’s life, Jake Peavey said, they were driving out together across the vast ranch to check on the grass and livestock. “He taught Cory and I how to be stew ards of the land and how to care for the animals,” he said.

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24 • Sheep Industry News • sheepusa.org “The Trailing was close to his heart,” said Waller. “It allowed him a chance to share his love of the sheep industry and caretaking of the land not only with the community but with people from all over the world.” Peavey family members traveled from only the woolly creature itself, but also the cultures that have played an integral role in sheep ranching and sheepherding in the American West. At the Folklife Fair in Hailey, the music, dance and contributions of Basque, Peru vian and Scottish cultures was on display, along with stalls selling every imaginable sheep-derived product and food trucks of fering a variety of lamb dishes. The deli ciousness of lamb is not to be overlooked, with Farm to Table Dinners held through out the week in Hailey and the For Love of Lamb event in Ketchum. For Jake Peavey, it’s the lamb shanks that are always a favorite, but he also loves sharing a leg of lamb with his family, evok ing his earliest childhood memories in the kitchen with his grandparents. And, Peavey said, he loves the connection the festival provides to the food source. “A lot of people are so removed from where their meat comes from,” he said. Jake Peavey and his brother, Cory, car ried a banner (pictured above) to honor their grandfather during the Big Sheep Parade, and John Peavey’s children rode in the Dignitary Wagon.