Ag Days attracts crowds
Beautiful weather helped attract record crowds and vendors to the 30th annual Washington County Ag Days this weekend.
It was the second year in a row the agricultural festival was held at the county fairgrounds in Chartiers Township. It’s already grown to four buildings instead of two, with 208 booths.
“We had a lot of vendors that saw how well we did last year, and they wanted to be a part of it this year,” said Judy Iams, the chairperson of the committee that puts on the festival each year, Saturday. “We never had this many participants when we were at the mall.”
For decades the festival was held at Washington Crown Center in North Franklin Township. They weren’t able to bring in as many vendors or live animals in that space, Iams said.
“We’re mostly all about educating the public on what farmers actually do and what animals actually are,” she said.
Iams said Washington County farms are “dwindling” compared to the amount of farms around 10 years ago.
“It’s becoming more and more important for us to share what we know and how to do things,” she said. “Any vendor you stop and talk to will tell you how important agriculture is.”
Pat O’Brien, a sheep farmer in North Bethlehem Township, was one of those vendors. He partners with Chris Lyle, a sheep farmer in Buffalo Township, to put on a sheep shearing demonstration at Ag Days each year for more than 20 years.
“Sheep raising here in Southwestern Pennsylvania has been around for a long time,” O’Brien said. “Our hills are more conducive for sheep to be able to pasture.”
O’Brien said they usually get a large crowd of children gathered around to watch the shearing process.
“It’s all about helping the next generation understand where some of their food and clothing comes from,” he said.
The shearing demonstration was one of several over the course of the two-day event. Friday night’s highlight was a beginner’s square dancing lesson.
“We had 50 to 100 people learning how to square dance,” Iams said.
There were also mini horse jumping and saw mill demonstrations, antique tractor and hay wagon rides, tractor pulls and a petting zoo. The Farm Bureau held a food drive for Washington County Food Bank, and several 4H clubs were able to raise funds by selling food and baked goods during the event, Iams said.
“It’s something for the community and we hope to do a little bit of educating while we’re here,” she said.