BREAKING EWES: Crowds flock to Washington for Running of the Wools sheep races

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Sheep run down South Main Street in the city Saturday while Washington Business District Authority Director Shana Brown watches in the background after opening the starting gate.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

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Sheep prepare for a heat race as Washington County Historical Society Director Clay Kilgore and Washington Business District Authority Director Shana Brown get ready to open the gates.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

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Crowds flocked to Washington on Saturday to watch sheep racing down South Main Street during the second annual Running of the Wools festival.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

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Melinda Wamsley of Boss Mare Shearing in Amwell Township gives a demonstration on how to shear a sheep to a crowd people gathered under the Main Street pavilion.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

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Susan Frank of Montrose, Colo., puts her sheep hat on after having her face painted by an artist during the Running of the Wools festival.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

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Oliver Kilgore, right, and Trenton Seaman place colorful jerseys on the sheep before the heat races.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

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A flock of sheep trots down South Main Street as crowds of people encourage them during one of the heat races.

Mike Jones/Observer-Reporter

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Rain wet the wool, but it couldn’t dampen the spirits for the second annual Running of the Wools in Washington.

Crowds of people flocked to the city’s downtown business district Saturday for the festival to celebrate Washington County’s agricultural history, with the featured attraction of sheep racing down South Main Street.

The heat race winners – Baker’s Waterproofing’s Sheepish Grin, Big Rig by Range Resources, Care-Wool DeAngelo of the Observer-Reporter and a tie between Community Bank’s CB Baaaaank and Ewe Are Enough by Indigo Yoga on Main – battled in the championship round with the newspaper’s Care-Wool DeAngelo crowned as the grand champion in the final race. Chromium from Chrome won the Battle of the Baaaaaanks special race.

The festival, organized by the Washington Business District Authority and the Washington County Historical Society, also included a morning Breakfast Crawl at 18 businesses in the city, along with various events under the Main Street pavilion, including story time with Little Bo Peep and sheep shearing demonstrations. A community blessing service with more than a dozen area churches participating was held Sunday afternoon at the pavilion.