STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
Rabbi Robbi Sherwin raised a shofar—a musical horn made of ram’s horn--and blew on it as thousands of people lining Ketchum’s Main Street watched and applauded.
Then she raised her arms, shofar in hand, greeting several hundred sheep as they ran around her, somewhat stunned by the crowds lining the street after having spent a summer in mountain pastures far from human presence.
“This is one of my favorite moments, one of the best parts of being in the valley,” said Sherwin, who represents the Wood River Jewish Community.
A bluebird day with temperatures in the 60s and gentle breezes greeted visitors from most every state, as well as London, Berlin, Copenhagen and other venues as the 26th Trailing of the Sheep Big Sheep Parade coursed down the streets of Ketchum.
The parade allows onlookers to learn about the way sheep trail from the desert up to the mountains each spring, then turn back to the desert come fall. And it celebrates a time when the number of sheep moving through Ketchum was second only to that of Sydney, Australia.
K-Town was abuzz with activity Sunday morning as visitors strolled sidewalks nibbling on breakfast wraps, sipping their Morning Joes and milling around vendors hawking tie bolos and fleece products in Ketchum Town Square.
Donna Kinsel threw a tailgate from a suburban with two adorable stuffed sheep peering out the windows as she awaited the parade. She adopted the sheep at Picabo Anglers when she grabbed a bowl of hot soup as she tried to warm up after fishing for two hours in Silver Creek last spring
“This is their first time seeing the parade. They don’t know what to expect, but look how excited they are,” she said.
REMAX and Windemere real estate agencies threw Bloody Mary parties for their clients as they celebrated the changing colors and the sheep parading through town.
“I think it’s cool to celebrate our culture,” said Windemere’s Logan Frederickson, who moved to the Wood River Valley 10 years ago.
Scottsdale, Ariz., resident Felicie Lewis wore a wool hat she bought at Saturday’s Folklife Fair, along with a felted wool coat as she joined her sister Alice Lane and their friend Carrie Lamkin at her first Trailing of the Sheep Festival.
“We just love all the different things there are to do,” said Lane. “We spent one entire day watching the sheep dog trials, then we watched the sheep shearing the next day. “
“The shopping’s better than Fifth Avenue,” chimed in Lamkin.
Finally, it was time for the parade. A long line of sheep camp wagons from as far away as Vale, Ore., rolled up Main Street. They were followed by a riderless horse with a cowboy hat sitting on its back honoring several people the sheep family had lost this past year.
Among them, Baxter Black, who served up his cowboy poetry—with a tiny helping of sheepherder poetry—at an early Trailing of the Sheep Festival gathering.
Peruvian dancers twirled against the backdrop of autumn golds, greens and reds. Basque dancers jumped, kicking their leather dance shoes in the air. And even the Girl Scouts walked by with a dog dressed in sheep’s clothing.
But where were the sheep?
Those who had followed the Trailing gulped. They knew the sheep had been two hours late to their first party—an unofficial trailing in which sheep ranchers John and Diane Peavey invited schoolchildren to come walk with the sheep—because the sheep had been cavorting under a full moon.
Gulp, there was a full moon the night before—did they stay bedded down all morning?
Those who had followed the Trailing from the beginning gulped again. They knew that the Peavey sheep from the Flat Top Sheep Ranch would be taking part in the parade since the 1,800 Faulkner sheep that had planned to take part had to trail through Ketchum early after the Ross Fork Fire near Smiley Creek impacted their late summer grazing grounds.
And—yikes--the Peavey sheep had tended to be a little rambunctious in the past, with a few even breaking off from the fold and escaping onto side streets. Were they running through the Ketchum cemetery out of sight of parade watchers?
Finally, more than 15 minutes after the Boise Highlanders marched through with their bagpipes blaring, the sheep showed after having been held back. Way baaaa-ck. A few delighted the crowd as they jumped up on the backs of the sheep in front of them.
But they were remarkably well behaved, trotting down the street like a bunch of docile schoolchildren, spilling out onto the bike path where they eventually turned onto a path leading to a small bridge over the Big Wood River known as the Sheep Counting Bridge.
“I love how this brings so many people together,” said Carla Cumpston, who moved to Sun Valley full time a few years ago. “It’s one of my favorite things.”
“It’s one of the most unique things I’ve ever seen,” added Gary Cumpston. “Watching 1,800 sheep come down the road is a sight to be seen.”