Sheep and llamas and rabbits, oh, my!

Scroll down for "Poke the bear! Mark Johnson"

Oct 09, 2024

On Saturday and Sunday, the Fall Fiber Festival and Sheep Dog Trials hosted a combined total of about 2,000 visitors, according to the festival’s website manager, Christine Colyer. On Sunday morning, making my rounds of the festival grounds (across the road from James Madison’s Montpelier), I was struck by all the wonderful colors—bundles of fiber in every shade of the rainbow; llamas, Angora rabbits and exotic sheep in warm, soft hues; and a sky fairly bursting with brilliant October blue.

The fiber festival is a quiet affair that attracts people who don’t need extreme stimulation. Consider, for instance, the sheep dog demos. (There were no official sheep dog trials this year because a major competition was being held elsewhere.) One among many untrained observers, I thoroughly enjoyed watching a high-spirited pooch convince four prancing sheep that they really needed to scoot into a pen. Like a quite a few others, I couldn’t resist petting the large, plushy rabbits on exhibit—not, to my mind, as enchanting as any random purring cat, but pretty darned cute all the same.

Once Richard Gentry began his sheep-shearing demo, I burrowed into an engrossed crowd and listened to him with the avidity of someone contemplating a career change. Shearing a sheep is “80 percent footwork,” Gentry said before whipping out a pair of shears and expertly removing a pile of future sweaters from a woolly non-volunteer. All in all, a very fine and informative day, though my cats don’t have to worry about getting an extreme haircut anytime soon.

(1) Christine Colyer of Barboursville and daughter Scarlett visit with Steven Harrison of Charlottesville and Tucuman, one of his friendly llamas. (2) Richard Gentry of Braeburn Farm in Roseland finishes up a sheep-shearing demonstration while his wife, Anne, keeps an eye out for questions from the audience. (3) Debbie Jungling of Barboursville and her daughter, Jessica Denko of Richmond, pose with Peter Hanson, co-owner of The Fuzzy Ear rabbitry in Gloucester, and an extremely soft German Angora named Coco Bean. (4) Jane Hammond of Spring Hill Farm in Madison County is all smiles in the midst of selling clothing and other items made from fiber supplied by her goats. Below, a brief excerpt from a demonstration of a sheep dog attempting to herd "four ladies," as the announcer described the prancing sheep, into a pen. A hard-charging marvel of dedication, the dog was much more successful than this clip indicates.

(1) Candise Fountain of Blue Fields Farm in Madison and president of the Fall Fiber Festival of Virginia, had beautiful soft fiber for sale at her booth. (2) The colors of fiber at this booth were stunning. (3) Jay Shapiro of Magi's Wood Farm in Montpelier visits with one of his Icelandic sheep. (4) Kelli Wilkinson, a volunteer for the Louisa County Historical Society, gives a spinning demos for curious spectators. (5) Larry Sutton of Woodbridge said he liked this sheep's Beatle-esque "head of hair." (6) The Fall Fiber Festival is fueled by fresh kettle corn stirred and popped to perfection by Jesse Campbell, who has been (along with his wife, Carolyn) a festival fixture for many years.

Poke the bear! Mark Johnson

This new editorial feature addresses local public officials who repeatedly ignore inquiries about matters of concern. We begin by poking Mark Johnson, chair of both the Orange County Board of Supervisors and the Rapidan Service Authority, which runs the Wilderness Water Treatment Plant.

Johnson (District 1) did not respond to any of Byrd Street’s multiple emails and voicemail messages asking him to comment, for publication, on the water crisis that distressed and inconvenienced thousands of residents of eastern Orange County in late August.

Mark Johnson, for ignoring Byrd Street’s requests for comment on a serious matter affecting thousands of Orange County residents, you’re our first bear. We poke you in hopes that you’ll do better by your constituents in the future.

Mark Johnson. Photo from the Orange County government website.

Crystal Hale named Fauquier County’s director of social services

Orange County is advertising for a new director of the Department of Social Services, an office led until recently by Crystal Hale. After seven years as Orange County’s director of social services, Hale has taken on the same role in Fauquier County. She continues in her position as Orange County supervisor representing District 4.

According to Orange County County Administrator Ted Voorhees, Hale started her new job in Fauquier on October 1. In response to Byrd Street’s inquiry, he wrote, “She did a great job running Orange DSS, and we are glad she will continue to bring her experience and perspective to the Orange County Board of Supervisors.”

I asked whether there had been any conflict of interest between Hale’s duties as a supervisor and her social services position in Orange County. Voorhees replied, “Perhaps moving to Fauquier eliminates any appearance of a conflict between her service as Orange DSS director and her role as District 4 supervisor, but there was nothing legally or ethically preventing her from serving in both roles. Conflicts of interest are about personal benefits. That was never the case.”

Hale was chosen by the board of supervisors to serve in an interim capacity after her District 4 predecessor, Jim Crozier, resigned in July 2023. Hale then won a special election last November to serve out the remainder of Crozier’s term, through the end of next year.

Robin Breckenridge is interim director of Orange County’s social services department. The job posting for the open position lists a salary range of $116,739 to $142,681.

Supervisor Crystal Hale (District 4). Photo from Orange County Government website.

Blue Ridge Parkway closed due to storm damage

Hurricane Helene did a number on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Still packing a tropical wallop as it traveled through Virginia, the storm left behind a trail of debris and damaged parts of the road. Spanning 469 miles from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina, the entire parkway is closed until further notice, according to a release from the National Park Service.

“As of Thursday afternoon [October 3], 250 National Park Service employees from 32 states and the District of Columbia are working with Blue Ridge Parkway staff in the recovery efforts,” the NPS release states.

“In the coming weeks, the assessment teams will utilize the data from their inspections to determine the full extent of the damage including the timeline and cost estimates for repairs. A projected reopening date of any section of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina has not yet been established. In Virginia, damage assessments and the clearing of debris from the road are nearing completion, which will for allow a phased reopening in Virginia in the coming days to weeks,” the release continues.

Good news: Skyline Drive and Shenandoah National Park are open. If you want to climb Old Rag, be sure to purchase a $2 day-use ticket, plus an entrance pass to the park.

Planning Commission recommends limit to subdivision size

On October 3, the Orange County Planning Commission voted 4-1 to limit the size of subdivisions on land zoned agricultural. The proposal, which will now go to the Board of Supervisors, “would permit up to four lots to be divided from any given lot within a ten-year period, and would include exemptions,” according to the meeting agenda.

Planning Commissioner Jordan Marshall (District 3) cast the lone dissenting vote.