Sheep Shearing Time

By Leslie Bauer
Posted: July 3, 2008

John Bradfield prepares to shear a Montadale ewe owned by Tom and Molly Dearstine.

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir three bags full…so goes the lines of a popular nursery rhyme. The nursery rhyme came to life in mid-May when Molly and Tom Dearstine, of Glenelg, planned a shearing day to give their sheep their annual haircut. Friends, family and neighbors gathered to watch the days’ events.

Sheep breeders for years have made an event out of the annual shearing day, however this day was extra special at the Chatkewitz-Dearstine house. Earlier in the spring, Tom Dearstine had attended a sheep shearing school in Carroll County, designed to teach local shepherds how to complete this task each year.

While attending school, Tom met a professional sheep shearer, John Bradfield. Bradfield is from New Zealand, where he was raised on a sheep farm. Back in those days, John could easily shear 300 sheep a day. These days, Bradfield is living in the United States with his wife, Bee, and their three daughters while John works as a teacher at St. Timothy’s School for the next three years.

Tom and John struck up a friendship, and John, missing the fun of sheep shearing at home, offered to come shear the Dearstine’s sheep. Now this day of shearing was a walk in the park for John, less then 10 sheep were sheared on this day, but it did bring back memories of other times for John.

Neighbors, family, friends and even the former owner of Molly and Tom’s house came out to watch a professional sheep shearer in action. Set-up, preparation, and catching the sheep probably took the longest. John was able to shear each sheep in less then five minutes.

After the work was complete, the Dearstines and Bradfields enjoyed a cookout and visit, comparing stories of raising sheep in New Zealand and the United States. Molly and Tom have sold some of their Montadale fleeces on e-bay, while a few others will be entered for competition at the upcoming Howard County Fair.

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