Young 4-H'ers shear sheep for fair

By: Rachana Dixit | Daily Progress
Published: July 25, 2010

After getting a haircut in Saturday’s sweltering summer heat, James Brown appeared to be more content.

The less than year-old lamb had just gotten a shearing by his owner, 11-year-old Mark McGill, a member of the Albemarle-Charlottesville 4-H Program and the Charlottesville Albemarle Lifestock Family Club, one of 4-H’s groups.

“I learned a lot,” he said after shaving his lamb’s brown wool. “I always liked farming, and so I thought it would be a good learning experience.”

It was the first shearing for both boy and sheep.

The weekend shaving was done at Edgemont Farms in preparation for the Albemarle County Fair, which will be held from Aug. 3 to 8 in North Garden. Next year, the fair will need to relocate.

It was announced last week that the owners of Bundoran Farm, who have long leased their property for the fair, have decided not to renew a contract set to expire this year. The lease is not being extended because the farm’s owners plan to build houses on the property.

Nonetheless, on Saturday, dozens of 4-H members spruced up and practiced displaying their animals, which also include cows, goats and chickens. 4-H is a youth organization that does many hands-on projects, including ones agricultural in nature. The H’s stand for head, heart, hands and health, as many a young 4-H pledger knows.

Mark’s younger sister, Joy, 9, was next in line to give her lamb a shave — a good thing, Joy said, because it would be easier to see Chrome’s muscles when he gets judged next month.

“The kids don’t normally shear, so this is good,” said Lois McGill, Mark and Joy’s mother.

The 4-H club has 45 participants, and they will display more than 75 animals at the 29th-annual fair.

“The majority of the animals they see are 4-H animals,” said Diane Pullaro, one of the 4-H leaders along with her husband, Tony. “At least two thirds.”

Tony Pullaro added that it was good to teach the children about the animals now, as the adults get older.

“We try to influence the children that they’re the caretakers of the animals,” he said. “We’ve got a good group of kids doing good things.”

Hannah Steffanelli, 11, is one of those who hopes to learn more — Hannah wants a sheep, because she thinks she would be a good sheep owner and she wants more responsibility with taking care of farm animals.

Plus, she said: “They’re cute.”

More information about the fair can be found at www.albemarlecountyfair.com.