Mary Streaker
Organizer

Making People Feel Good About What They're Doing

When the gates open for the 27th annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival on May 6th, it will owe much of its longevity and success to Mary Streaker. From 1981 until 1994, she was the chairman of the event, which draws competitors and exhibitors from all over the U.S. and Canada and which attracts about 40-thousand spectators.

Organizing a single successful event is a huge, often frustrating, task. Agreeing to volunteer to repeat the task for 13 years is cause to wonder about the sanity of the volunteer. Especially when that person didn't come from the sheep community.

"I guess I am responsible for the festival in the format is now has. I lived in Howard County at the time," Mary says. "I knew horses and farmers. I had run Pony Club shows and developed the Shire Horse Hitch. I decided I wanted to learn how to card wool, so we bought three sheep."

About that time, the sheep and wool festival was getting started in adjacent Carroll County. "It had been going for several years, but it was very small. It started for spinners, they could come to wool pull. They had a crafts show and a fleece auction." She attended a couple of the festivals, but didn't become very involved with the spinners or farmers.

Enter fate. The show had to move because of construction at the Carroll County site. The Howard County Fairgrounds was the perfect location, next to one interstate, and just a few miles from another.

But the organizers needed a new chairman, someone who knew Howard County. "People said I knew everyone in Howard County. When they asked me, I said, 'Sure.' It seemed like it would be a lot of fun."

Fun? Events run by volunteers are often plagued with ego battles, cliques, and committee infighting. Mary knew that from her experience with horse shows. But she liked the idea of working on something new. "I think coming from the outside was helpful. I had no axe to grind, so I was accepted more easily by everyone. I brought good organizational skills and the idea of helping people to get along."

Turning the local spinners' gathering into a major industry event began with the first year. "We produced a catalog saying what we were going to do, and then we did it. We had competitions, classes, and workshops. People knew what was going to happen and when."

The committee also decided to limit the breeds of sheep shown at the festival. Color sheep and wool breeds are the only ones shown. "That's because fairs do meat breeds. People can see those breeds at other places. The Sheep and Wool Festival is an easy festival as far as livestock goes. It's easy to relate to sheep."

Each year the festival showcases one breed. In 1999, attention focused on rare breeds, with speakers from Colonial Williamsburg talking about the sheep the Founding Fathers were familiar with. Past years have seen Lincolns and Cotswolds getting star billing. Some breed associations made the festival their annual meeting when their breed was the featured one. It's another way to draw more participants to the festival.

Another major element is the craft fair. Over 200 juried craft people are invited to participate. All of the crafters' work must have something to do with sheep or wool. "It gets bigger every year. More people want to be invited than we have slots for. It's very successful, and the craft people are very keen to come back."

Over the years, the fairgrounds itself has changed, and all for the better. The original exhibit building was a Quonset hut with an interesting background. "It was used to do research on the St. Lawrence Seaway. There was a whole mock-up of the seaway inside, done to scale. We cleaned it out, and paved it. At first, it had a dirt floor." Eventually a snowstorm caved in the roof. Now, in addition to the new exhibit building, the festival uses every other building at the fairgrounds.

The planning for next year's festival starts the day after the current one ends. With over 60 volunteer members on the committee, how did Mary keep them all involved and cooperating? It has to do with her philosophy of events planning.

"Enthusiasm keeps it going. It's a good feeling knowing you made it happen. That's what volunteering is all about. You recognize the work that people are doing. That makes them feel good about what they are doing."

Even after 13 years of running the festival, Mary still says the weekend sometimes feels unreal. "You work and work. On Friday, when it starts, it takes on a life of its own. You'd better have your groundwork done." Then, after three days of dealing with dozens of exhibitors, hundreds and hundreds of sheep, and up to 40-thousand spectators, it's over. "It only takes five hours to break down. I'm always surprised at how quickly we pack up and leave."

Howard County is close to both Baltimore and Washington, DC. As the housing developments gouge into farmland, there's a question of whether such an agriculturally oriented festival can survive in a semi-urban setting.

As long as the fairgrounds remain - and there are no plans or rumors that it won't - the Sheep and Wool Festival will be there. "We explored other fairgrounds, but Howard County fits the situation. It's on one interstate and near another, and it's near a major metropolitan area. The continuity is good."

Although no longer the chairman, Mary is still part of the committee. She runs the photo and fine arts contests. She attends some meetings, but not too many. "I think it's better if the past chairman doesn't show up too often." She is enthusiastic about plans current chairman Gwen Handler has for the 2000 Festival. "She's doing interesting things this year, bringing in Navajo weavers and people from England. She's good at generating new help and getting people involved."

But did she ever fulfill her longing to learn how to card wool, the project that got her involved with sheep in the first place? "Oh, yes!" she laughs. "I learned how to card, spin, and weave. I did it all. Then I went to art school and devoted most of my time to painting!"
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