By Lindsey Rowland
mailto:lrowland@wbcowqel.com
Every year at the Crawford County fair, many talented sheep shearers make their way to the main arena for the annual sheep shearing competition. The participants, who come from far and near, make it a point to compete to the Crawford County Fair because of the longstanding tradition of amiable rivalry and of being a solid, fair competition in which they are challenged.
This year, eight men came out and ended up shearing over 30 sheep.
Among the group was Gavin McGerron who comes all the way from Wisconsin to compete. McGerron currently holds the record for most sheep sheared in 24 hours with 1,058.
After eight rounds of extremely close competition, Larry Green came in fourth, Andy Johnson came in third, McGerron took the second place slot, and Bill Haudenschield stepped up in first place.
Haudenschield of Marysville, comes from a family of nine kids and his entire family shears sheep. His dad started in 1953, and since then it has become a family endeavor and business. He says it is hard, but that it is also really fun. Winning is wonderful, especially when it’s close, Haudenschield claims, but that the best part is coming and getting to see and hang out with his fellow shearers.
See more photos from the 2013 Crawford County Fair on our Photos page.