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2023 Festival
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Sheep Shearing Demonstrations

Sheep Shearing Demonstrations

The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival is pleased to have Emily Chamelin Hickman of Westminster, Maryland as our sheep shearing demonstrator.

Emily is a full time machine shearer who grew up in Carroll County, Maryland. Her first introduction to sheep was through 4-H and her shearing education began right here as well, having attended the Maryland Shearing School. Emily shears over 5,000 sheep in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware each spring and travels throughout the remainder of the year to the Midwest and overseas to continue to pursue work and adventure opportunities that shearing can provide. She also teaches at shearing schools all over the USA as well as competes in shearing competitions both here and abroad.

Emily and her husband, Kevin Hickman, have over 50 years of shearing experience between them and enjoy working for the shepherds in the region. They also operate as wool/fiber buyers and source wool for a variety of craft and yarn businesses.

There are many highly skilled and talented shearers working in the Mid-Atlantic region and all over the USA. We are always excited to spotlight some of the amazing shearers who make the journey to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, and hope to have some new faces hop up on stage to help demonstrate the skill and finesse required to shear sheep for our agricultural community.

There will be a general discussion of sheep, wool, and sheep handling. Please drop by to enjoy our show and ask questions.

Saturday and Sunday – 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. – Stage outside Main Exhibition Hall

Sheep Shearing Demonstration from the 2021 Virtual Festival

2023 Featured Breed: Jacob

Learn more about the Jacob breed and talk to JSBA members in the Breed Display Barn (Barn 7-8 on the map) while you are at the Festival.

Read More
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Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

2 days ago

Note from the festival office - Fleece Show & Sale checks (premiums and fleece sale proceeds) have all been delivered to the post office. Auction checks and checks for Sheep Show premiums have all been written and signed and are in the process of being stuffed into envelopes (fingers crossed that I don't run out of envelopes before Staples delivers more on Monday). Factoid - those three categories generated a total of 300 checks, which is a stack almost 2" high. Waiting for payment information from the Skein & Garment committee so I can write checks for their special prizes. Ditto for payments to the Sheep-to-Shawl teams. ... See MoreSee Less

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Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

2 weeks ago

In case you missed our earlier announcement, we are now accepting orders for a second printing of large tote bags and moss green t-shirts at www.sheepman.com/product-category/maryland-sheep-wool-festival-online/. Orders will be accepted through COB on Wednesday, May 24th. After that time, the order will go to the printer. They have given us a turn around time of around 2 weeks to have the items printed. Once we have the shirts in hand, we will start shipping to fulfill the orders. Your credit card will not be charged until your order ships. Note: The "guesstimated" shipping fee that is computer generated by the online sales platform at the time of your order tends to run high. You will likely notice the actual charge when your order is shipped is considerably less. Store pickup at the Sheepman Supply showroom in Frederick, MD is also possible; put "store pick up" in special instructions when you check out and you won't be charged the shipping. #mdsw #mdsw2023 #festivalgear #celebrating50years ... See MoreSee Less

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Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

3 weeks ago

Due to the overwhelming popularity of our 50th anniversary items, we are now accepting orders for a second printing of select items at www.sheepman.com/product-category/maryland-sheep-wool-festival-online/. The order period will run until COB on Wednesday, May 24, at which time we will send the order off to the screen printing company. The delivery time will run 2-4 weeks from that point. These second printing items are limited to the large boat tote bag and a short-sleeve t-shirt in Moss green. The shirts are a ComfortWash by Hanes garment-dyed t-shirts in 5.5 ounce, 100% ring-spun cotton and standard unisex sizing, sizes S to 3X. All sales on this second printing will be final (no returns or exchanges). There is also a small quantity of already-printed items available on a first-come, first- served basis until supplies are exhausted:Short-sleeve t-shirt in “Indigo Blue” – Small (16), Medium (14), Large (8), XL (6), 2X (4), 4X (4), 5X (2)Hooded long-sleeve t-shirt in “Saltwater” – Small (6), Medium (4), Large (4), XL (8)Large boat tote bags (8) – these are the same mentioned above“Peacock” blue backpack (13)“Red Rock” beach wash shoulder tote (6)Large posters (12)Small posters (7)These are the same items that were available online prior to the festival and were also sold at the festival. Pickup at Sheepman Supply in Frederick, MD is available. Put “Store Pick Up” in special instructions when you check out and you won’t be charged the shipping. Thank you for your patience while we worked out these details.#mdsw #mdsw2023 #celebrating50years #festivalgear ... See MoreSee Less

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