State Fair is full of surprises

Visit to fair finds four women staying busy, from tending llamas to giving temporary tattoos

Date published: 9/27/2005

By ROB HEDELT

RICHMOND--I met four interesting women on a visit Thursday to the State Fair of Virginia at the Richmond Raceway Complex.

From the bleating of llamas to the shots of Civil War muskets, they were all doing their part at the fair that draws tens of thousands to the annual agricultural and entertainment hot spot.

Scanning the outside of the show ring for the next trio of competitors, Marian Bruffy checked the competition program in her hand and sighed.

It's not easy running one of the animal competitions here at the fair. Bruffy, who operates Freestate Llamas in Amissville, should know. She has headed up the llama competition for years here at the fair.

When the trio of fur-covered, long-necked, gentle animals finally make their way to the ring, she's got a minute or two to chat.

She uses it to list the many good points about llamas, animals she characterized as gentle, perfect companions for animals like goats and sheep and suppliers of fiber prized by artists and artisans.

"There really isn't all that much upkeep," she said, noting that they just require some regular worming, and a clip of their nails every now and then with rose pruners.

She noted that most of the animals she raises go either as pets or as sources of fur and fiber.

"One thing they're not is hot-weather lovers," she said, noting that she shaves the dense fur from hers every summer.

"Even then, they spend all summer plopped down in front of the cooling fans I have in the barn," she said.

It's hot and dusty as a tractor drags the ring where a group of miniature horses and their owners are waiting for their competition to begin.

Shirley Hovermale may have just turned 70, but that doesn't keep her from taking part, from showing both her full-sized quarter horses or her miniature horse named Magic.

The little paint--she dubs him a "medicine hat," referring to the splotch of brown on the animals head--is just five months old, though he will never get much higher than the knee-high stature he has now.

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Date published: 9/27/2005