STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK
PHOTOS BY JOHN BOYDSTON
Two weeks had scarcely passed since the 9-11 terrorist attacks had left the World Trade Center in smoldering ruins and the American people in shock.
The staff at CBS Sunday Morning looked around for something to counter the doom and gloom of the weeks since the attacks and they found it on Main Street Ketchum where 1,500 mutton were scheduled to spend a Sunday afternoon strutting down the street in front of hundreds of spectators.
The sheep did not disappoint, swirling past an Episcopal priest who repeated over and over, “In the name of God who creates the mountains and the streams and all living things, I bless you.” Past volunteers who were prepared to throw themselves between an errant sheep and a tiny child. Past children wrinkling their noises at the calling cards the sheep were leaving behind.
And past the CBS crew who filmed some 10 hours’ worth of tape for a program that would show Americans a unique slice of Americana.
That same scenario will be repeated Sunday when 1,500 of Gooding rancher John Faulkner’s sheep parade down the street behind sheep wagons, bagpipers and Basque dancers leaping in the air in the 26th annual Trailing of the Sheep Festival Parade. And that spectacle will be augmented beginning today by numerous activities, including sheep dogs trying to corral wild and wooly sheep and a folklife fair with sheep shearing demonstrations, vendors selling wool clothing and sheep cheese and food glorious food.
Here are the highlights:
THURSDAY, Oct. 6
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sheepdog Trails at Buttercup Road north of Indian Creek Road. $7 per person; children under 5 free. Includes vendors.
FRIDAY, Oct. 7
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sheepdog Trails at Buttercup Road north of Indian Creek Road. $7 per person; children under 5 free.
2:30-4 p.m. Sheep Ranching Tales with John Etcheverry, Cory Peavey and Ciny Siddoway. Free at Ketchum Community Library.
4:30-5:30 p.m. For the Love of Lamb bites from Wood River Valley. $20 passport, available at Trailing of the Sheep headquarters at Ketchum’s Limelight Hotel.
7 p.m. Sheep Tales Gathering—Voices from the Land. Tickets are $25, available online at https://trailingofthesheep.org/culture/sheeptales-gathering/.
SATURDAY, Oct. 8
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sheepdog Trails at Buttercup Road north of Indian Creek Road. $7 per person; children under 5 free.
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Folklife Fair with dancing, sheep shearing demonstrations, sheep wagon displays, kids’ activities, food and 80 pus vendors. Free. Roberta McKercher Park on S. 3rd Ave. in Hailey. Includes Lamb Fest featuring lamb dishes prepared by local chefs from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
SUNDAY, Oct. 9
9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sheepdog Finals at Buttercup Road north of Indian Creek Road. $7 per person; children under 5 free.
9:30-11 a.m. Sheepherding Stories with Flat Top Sheep Co. ranchers John and Tom Peavey, The Limelight Hotel in Ketchum.
10 a.m.-noon. Happy Trails Festival Pre-Parade Party featuring music by cowboy/folk singers Cindy and Gary Braun with festival vendors present. Ketchum Town Square.
Noon—Big Sheep Parade featuring 1,500 sheep, sheep wagons, a riderless horse honoring sheep family members who were lost this past year, musicians and dancers.
1-3 p.m. Happy Trails Festival Closing Party featuring Mark Mueller Trio and vendors, Ketchum Town Square.
2 p.m. Sheepherders Hike and Stories. Guided hike through aspen groves to view sheepherder tree carvings. Featuring Rancher John Peavey and former Ketchum Mayor Jeffery Seiffert.
There are also a variety of cooking demonstrations and wool classes. To learn more, visit https://trailingofthesheep.org/.