Frog the Suffolk lamb is 7 months old, about 165 pounds and a jumper — hence the name.
She also is one of about 85 lambs and sheep at the Thurston County Fair this week. That is the most sheep the fair, now in its 152nd year, has ever seen.
Thomasina Cooper, fair and event center manager, attributes the record-breaking flock to the post-pandemic "new normal." People — and animals — are coming back to events such as the fair, which the pandemic closed for two years.
"The sheep are an animal that is easy to raise within the course of a year. It's not as much of an investment, it's not as difficult as it is, say, like a cow, a big animal, a horse," Cooper told The Olympian. "So I think that might account for why we have so many sheep on site this year."
Frog's handler, Emma Chance, is a high school sophomore and a member of Tenino's Legacy 4-H Club. This is her second year exhibiting at the fair. What made her come back? The experience.
"I'm not exactly here to win, I'm here to have fun," Chance told The Olympian. "And then, (lambs are) just a lot of fun to have. And every year, we always get attached to these lambs and we have to sell them off at the end of the day. But we always enjoy the experience."
Chance was also there to educate.
She and her sister, another Legacy 4-H Club member exhibiting a lamb, make posters about sheep each year. Chance's poster covers different breeds of sheep and their uses, such as providing milk, wool and meat. Other exhibitors made similar posters, providing a wide array of information about different farm animals.
Educating is part of Chance's dream. When she grows up, she wants to be a large animal veterinarian.
"I love to just educate other people on what lambs are like, what horses are like, what cows are like, all that stuff," Chance said. "And one day, I just really would love to work with animals and help them just get better."
Whether at exhibits or one of the fair's numerous displays, demonstrations and activities, opportunities to learn are all over the fairgrounds.
Cooper said providing these opportunities is huge for the fair board and something they will continue to work on for fairs to come.
"(The fair) is a classroom. All of it," Cooper said. "Whether it's the quilting ladies over in the home art section, or the kids at the swine barn, or the beekeepers talking about how important pollinators are, there's such a variety. And I think it's more experiential than just, say, sitting and reading about it or watching a video about it."
The fair runs through Sunday. A list of the fair's programming, entertainment and exhibits is available on Thurston County's website.
Southwest Washington Fair
The Southwest Washington Fair in Lewis County opens Aug. 13 through Aug. 18 at the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds.
Look for a special section highlighting activities and events at the fair in The Chronicle next week.
Learn more at https://southwestwashingtonfair.org/.
