Welcome!

Welcome to our 51st!

This year I am writing to you as past president of the Maryland Sheep Breeders Association (MSBA) and now co-chair of the Festival. After many years of being the chairperson of the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, our good friend and neighbor Gwen Handler has retired to Chairperson Emeritus. Lee Langstaff and I are stepping into the joint role of chairperson, a very big role to fill. Gwen is the person who is responsible for getting my wife, Jan, and I involved in the Festival. Her ability to generate enthusiasm and involvement in the Festival is and will likely always be unmatched. As neighbors, Gwen and her husband Larry could not be better; no matter the time or the weather, they will always come help. I am honored to be part of a collaborative team of MSBA officers, board members, committee members, and dozens of volunteers needed to host this event.

Our 50th celebration was a huge success and I hope you were able to witness it firsthand. Our goal now is to make the next 50 years as successful. That means being able to adapt to change to ensure the Festival meets its mission and continues to provide a great experience far into the future. We are already adapting in many ways out of sheer necessity. We have been fortunate to find new talent to help distribute the effort needed to plan and manage the Festival. A big challenge is the vendors that supply the goods and services needed to run the Festival. They have all had to pass on price increases – and will continue to do so. This has led to the inevitable need to raise some of our prices. Rest assured we are continuously evaluating the cost of Festival events while searching for ways to increase efficiency and minimize expenses. At the same time, we are not losing sight of fulfilling our mission as a non-profit agricultural organization, whether it’s educational seminars, the show ring, or providing a marketplace for the small sheep industry-related business and the consumer. Look at our Festival catalog and you will see the breadth of experience for both sheep producers and consumers that we provide; this is quite an affair.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank everyone that makes this Festival the success that it is recognized as – folks both local and nationwide. We could not do it without the dozens of tirelessly committed volunteers and professionals. We are also so very grateful for all the festivalgoers that show up, rain or shine, each first weekend in May; they make it all worth it!

Until we meet in May, stay safe and stay well. While visiting please stop in one of the sheep barns and thank a shepherd, thank a vendor selling equipment for raising sheep, and thank a vendor selling products from sheep. They are a big part of the Festival.

Jeff White, Co-Chair, Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival