Record South Whidbey
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 | Vol.88, No. 39 | www.SOUTHWHIDBEYRECORD.com | 75¢
Sheepish for the shears
How to waltz with a sheep BY JIM LARSEN Record editor
The name of the sheep wasn’t announced, but if it was Matilda, someone was waltzing with it. This particular sheep was shorn Sunday morning at the Tilth Farmers Market by shearer extraordinaire Constance Wiseman. Wiseman, a Freeland resident, gripped the reluctant sheep between her legs, electric shears in hand, and started removing its woolly coat, which was no easy task. After a haircut there are thousands of bits of hair on the floor waiting to be swept up. After a shearing by Wiseman, there is one sheep-shaped pelt that, if equipped with a zipper, could be put right back on the sheep. The secret, Wiseman told the small crowd gathered outside the pen, is “the sequence,” or the learned art of sheep shear-
Second Sundays at Tilth Market See the washing and dyeing of sheep fleeces between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 10. ing. There are no better ways or shortcuts that will work. “Even if you think you’ve got a better way, you don’t,” she said, soliciting a chuckle from the onlookers. She described the technique of quickly shearing all sides and top and bottom of the sheep as “the dance —- it’s like a waltz. You move your leg here and here, the arm that way, you have to master the sequence.” A handful of spectators at the demonstration watched with a mixture of awe and disgust, at least judging by the expression
Jim Larsen / The Record
At top, the first part of shearing a sheep is to catch it. Carol Wiseman chases the sheep she will eventually shear. Above, spectators watch with interest as Wiseman nears the finish of her demonstration. The three girls standing at the fence are, from the left, Ava Wesner, Erica MacLaran and Scarlett Hansen. on the faces of three young girls, Ava Wesner, Erica MacLaran and Scarlett Hansen. Sometimes they
looked away when a slight See sheep, A11
INSIDE: Last hurrah, Island Life, A12
South End athletics code, fees to change BY BEN WATANABE Staff reporter
LANGLEY — Change is on its way for the South Whidbey High School athletics code and sport fees. Scott Mauk, athletic director, presented a first draft of revisions and additions to the code and payment structure. An anti-hazing policy and specified academic eligibility rules will be included, making the “The district tradition of freshmen has truly athletes committed to cleaning the buses, “a athletics in a thing of the way that other past.” Although districts don’t the initial suggestion experience” of doubling Scott Mauk, the fee to SWHS Athletic Director $100 for each sport was not supported by the school board, playing for the Falcons is certain to be more expensive next year. “We can’t continue to afford to do everything,” said Jo Moccia, superintendent of the South Whidbey School District. The building budget at the high school, from which athletics receives the bulk of its funding, will be reduced by 5 percent next year. In order to purchase and replace equipment like football helmets — required annually for safety reasons — the high school must charge more for sports. “Looking at the conference, the cost isn’t just a screaming deal, it’s a little absurd,” Mauk said of the present sports fee. Compared to other schools in South Whidbey’s athletic league, the Cascade Conference, costs for participating in Falcon sports has been cheap. The average cost among the other seven schools is $81, with Cedarcrest paying the most at $150 and Granite Falls, Sultan and South Whidbey paying See athletics, A10