May 17, 2013 By Kyle Edwards, For The Greene County Messenger 3 min read

The 10th annual Sheep and Fiber Festival will be held May 18 and 19 at the Greene County Fairgrounds.

Held by Waynesburg Prosperous and Beautiful, the festival will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days, and is a way to get Greene County back to its roots, said Lena Galing, director of fine arts classes for the festival and co-owner of Lippencott Alpacas.

“Greene County used to be the head county for sheep production in the United States,” Galing said. “Since that time, that has not been the case; we’re down on the list. Our focus for this is to get back to fiber arts production – sheep, alpaca, anything that’s fiber arts-oriented. These are ancient skills, and we want to get back to them.

Last year, the festival saw a turnout of 1,500 to 2,000 people a day, and Galing said they hope to see such a good turnout again.

“It’s very weather-dependent, but we have more of a variety of classes this year,” she said. “More people are turning in fiber arts items to sell, we have more children’s activities and there will be plenty of good food and things to buy.”

Galing’s husband, Philip, food coordinator for the event, said that this year’s festival will have over 40 craft vendors.

“We’ve got the really famous cooking demonstrations by chefs from all over, including Waynesburg’s own Dan Wagner. We have the photo contest – the winners have already been selected, but the displays will be there,” Philip Galing said.

Lena Galing explained that there will be several different kinds of spinning classes.

“We’ll have classes in spinning – both wheel and spindle spinning – we have crocheting, cable knitting, rug hooking and plying. What’s a little newer this year is the ‘fiber to shawl’ program. What they do is take the fiber – they get it that morning – they card it, spin it, and make it into shawls, which are auctioned off later in the weekend,” Lena Galing said. “There will also be three shearing demonstrations each day – one at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. – where a sheep will be sheared, followed by an alpaca.”

Lena Galing said that, anyone interested in taking any of the classes should call her at 724-852-4084 or go online to sheepandfiber.com to pre-register for.

“Come out and have a good time,” she said. “There will be good food, things of interest for all ages and it’s free entry.”

For more information about the 10th annual Sheep and Fiber Festival, go to sheepandfiber.com or call 724-852-8119.