At Northeast Youth Sheep Show, NE Sale

The recent New England Sheep Sale and Northeast Youth Sheep Show, held at the Eastern Exposition fairgrounds (better known as The Big E) is the second largest youth show in the United States. It is the largest show in the New England area and draws exhibitors from states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania to Florida.

“Competitors have to do all their own work on their own animals, explained John Buffington, president, New England Sheep & Wool Growers Association (NESWGA), a dedicated group that offers scholarships and runs the New England Sale and Northeast Youth Sheep Show, as well as the upcoming Big E 4-H Youth Sheep Show this fall. The folks at NESWGA are hard at work organizing the first-ever Fiber Festival of New England for Nov. 6 and 7, 2010 at Eastern States Exposition (ESE), a co-production between NESWGA and ESE.

“This is probably one of the nicest facilities in the country for this type of venue,” Buffington noted. “With the way it is set up – plenty of hotels in the area, we have parking near the building, restrooms close by, plenty of room.”

The National Southdown Sheep Show will be at the ESE site in 2011.

This year almost 800 head of sheep and around 275 youth exhibitors gathered for the show and sale.

The sheep arrive Wednesday evening after families have set up pens on the previous Monday night.

“Then we get ready for the sales and afterwards, the showmanship classes start,” he explained. Breed classes begin on Saturday evening and continue Sunday, all day.

And it’s a prestigious show that grows every year.

“The money is not the driving force behind this event, people are here for the love of the sheep. This is an agricultural event for youth and we’d love to get more kids involved.”

Note: For more information about New England Sheep & Wool Growers Association, visit www.nesheep.org.

The Eastern States Exposition is a not-for-profit agricultural, educational institution created in 1916 to “maintain and develop programs that promote youth education, agriculture education, history and leadership.” Events take place at the 175-acre fairgrounds in West Springfield, Mass., year-round from horse shows to alpaca competitions and more. Storrowton Village Museum and Storrowton Tavern are open year-round.

Final results of winners and awards are noteworthy achievements.