Open the paperback-length book that is this year's Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival catalog, turn about midway to page 102, and there it is in black and white: Leslie Clary was Lamb and Wool Queen in 1986.
She didn't stumble when asked the year of her reign, nor has she forgotten much about the festival's early days since she began volunteering in 1984.
"I guess you could say working on the festival is kind of an addiction," said the Dayton resident, who became Leslie Bauer at age 18 when she married high-school sweetheart Ricky Bauer 20 years ago. "Once it gets under your skin, there's no changing that."
The festival will be held tomorrow and Sunday at the Howard County Fairgrounds.
The Lamb and Wool Queen Contest, "which is based on knowledge, not beauty," is a nod to the Maryland Sheep Breeders Association, which sponsors the festival, Bauer said. Members of the nonprofit organization started the event in 1974 in Carroll County as a way to sell their fleece to people interested in spinning by hand, she said.
The event was moved to Howard County in the early 1980s and has made its home there ever since. Angora rabbits, goats, llamas and alpacas were later added to the mix.
But, back to the half-inch-thick catalog. Along with detailed schedules of events, its 184 pages are jammed with ads for every place and every event that has anything to do with sheep anywhere in the United States -- from other festivals to yarn shops to breeders.
"The Sheep and Wool Festival is what the county is known for nationally," said Rachelina Bonacci, executive director of the Howard County Tourism Office, which has an information booth at the festival. "We did a license plate survey of the parking lot last year, and nearly all states were represented. This year, we may ask visitors to circle their hometowns on a map."
A catalog ad for a store in northern Baltimore County reads: "What do first-timers say when they walk into Woolstock Knit Shop? Somebody pinch me." That clever ad copy just about sums up the dreamy appeal of the festival, which attracts about 50,000 visitors who are not shy about opening their wallets to vendors from all over the world.
"I always say, `Come see the sheep and have fun -- but bring your checkbook,'" said Bauer. "There is something for everyone, from pottery to baskets to heirloom seeds. The items for sale go way beyond wool."
