By Gretchen Millich, WKAR News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-981278.mp3
Davison, MI – Every year at the Great Lakes Folk Festival, the Michigan State University Museum honors people who continue their family or community traditions. This year, one of the Michigan Heritage Awards goes to Deb Caryl, who raises sheep and practices the art of sheep shearing. Caryl is also passing on this tradition to young people in her 4-H club. WKAR'S Gretchen Millich visited Caryl at her farm in Genesee County.
In this country, most sheep are raised on factory farms, by a handful of large agribusinesses. These farms hold large numbers of animals, often indoors, at high densities.
But Deb Caryl does things the old way. She keeps some of her ewes with their lambs on her small, seven-acre farm. The rest of her flock graze nearby on a large tract of land she rents.
Deb Caryl has lived her whole life right around here. She grew up on a sheep farm just down the road. Her father was a sheep shearer. Back then, as they do now, shearers would travel for weeks at a time to work.
"He would go all over Michigan with other shearers," says Caryl. "While he was away, I was the shepherd."
She was a member of the 4-H club and raised her own lambs to show at county fairs. When she got older, Caryl became a 4-H leader and got her own flock of sheep. Her father did all the shearing. But several years ago, he fell ill.
"And I told him you're going to have to teach me how to shear, because I won't have anyone else shear my sheep," says Caryl. "So, I had the privilege to ride with my father for five years before he passed away. He taught me how to shear. I do things the old way and that's because my dad taught me."
"The old way" means Caryl takes her time. She uses a hand clipper and moves the animal around to get as close a shear as possible. This sheep is a 4-month-old merino getting her first haircut.
"I've got her between my legs, and I've got her chest bone," says Caryl. "You'll notice that I'm not holding her down. She's very flexible. She can kick her back legs if she wants to. Her head is upright, and my legs are what are holding her in the position that I want her."
Caryl is known for her shearing style. She creates a single fleece with no second cuts. That's preferred by some of her customers who spin wool.
She's also known for passing on this traditional skill to young people. Twelve-year-old Jared Jacobsen is in Caryl's 4-H club. He hangs out at the farm to help Caryl bag wool, bail hay and shear sheep. Jared wants to learn how to shear when he gets old enough.
"I just started coming over here, and then I became attached to them. I just want to learn how to do it because I'd like to have a farm of my own one day."
Ashley Johnson keeps sheep with Deb's flock and although she's a city girl, Johnson says she, too, wants to have her own farm someday. She was in Caryl's 4-H club for seven years and now is one of the leaders of the same group.
"She's just like a grandmother to me," says Johnson. "She taught me responsibility and how to get along with other people. She taught me how to be patient. Before, I had no patience whatsoever. I was always go, go, go. She taught me how to go with the flow and let things go."
Deb Caryl is not a speed shearer and she hasn't competed much. It's her son Sy who's the champion in the family. He can sheer a sheep in less than a minute. Deb Caryl says the Heritage Award she's getting this weekend for her work with 4-H will be the biggest honor she's ever received.
"I've been a 4-H leader for 50 years," says Caryl. "I love the kids. Sometimes I think the kids don't like me so much, but sometimes they do. I like to teach them responsibility, and one way that we'll know we're always going to have farms is for the kids to know responsibility and how much work it is to have a farm."
The Heritage Awards will be presented this Sunday at the Great Lakes Folk Festival in East Lansing. Also on Sunday, Caryl will do a sheep shearing demonstration.