Alpaca farmers, fiber fanatics converge in Perry

PERRY — Lucy Lee Fowler, a bank teller four years ago, said it was an accident how she ended up caring for dozens of alpacas on her farm in Florida.

Her love for the soft, long-necked mammals was discovered after her daughter, Taryn Robinson, was killed a decade ago while in the U.S. Air Force training to be a pilot.

"Her plane crashed on her second lesson; her instructor hit power lines," Fowler, 59, said. "It was awful."

One of Robinson's roommates in the United States Air Force Academy visited Fowler in 2011 and the two became close. The roommate told Fowler that "she and her husband were going to raise alpacas in Kentucky," Fowler said. "I said, 'That's wonderful sweetie, but what the hell is an alpaca?'"

Fowler and her husband have owned and operated LunaSea Alpaca Farm in Clermont, Florida, for a little less than two years now.

"We have 33 alpacas now on the farm," Fowler said. "They're like M&Ms. You have to have the plain, the peanut and all the colors. There's 22 colors in alpacas and we've got most of them."

This past weekend marked her fourth year at the Royal Alpaca Challenge & Fiber Festival organized by the Georgia Alpaca Association. The annual two-day event, which ended Sunday, has historically taken place in Conyers but moved to the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter in Perry for its seventh year.

Michael Hall, former president of GAA as of last month, said the event is an opportunity for alpaca farmers to network, buy fibers from each other and show off their best breeds for awards.

"There's a lot of farms in Georgia that own alpacas," Hall said, adding that 48 farms attended this year's event. "By placing well (in shows) and winning championships, then it becomes more marketable to either sell that animal or his or her offspring."

A high quality alpaca registered with the Alpaca Owners Association can range from $6,000 to $20,000, Hall said. The thick, soft fleece sheared from the alpaca is spun into a yarn and used for knitting, crocheting and more.

In the agricenter on Sunday, Terrie Bowles used her feet to maneuver a wooden spinning wheel for making yarn from fleece. Bowles said she's only been spinning yarn for about six weeks.

"The coolest thing is that you can take their hair and just make stuff out of it," Bowles said. "It's pretty cool to just take their fleece and make something."

Hall, who cares for 46 alpacas of his own at Mystic Mountain Farm in Covington, said it's not only their fleece that's soft.

"Alpacas, by nature, their demeanor is very calm," Hall said. "One thing that's interesting is they have unique personalities. They're not just eye-balled animals wandering around eating ... They're very social."

Turnout for the event was about the same in Perry as it was Conyers, "but we expect that to be better next time. ... It's a growing thing," Hall said.

"In the past, when we see public, a lot of it's curiosity," Hall said, adding that some seeing an alpaca for the first time have mistaken it for a camel or llama.

The alpacas were available for walking, photo opportunities and petting at the event. For those who have never been in the company of an alpaca, Hall encourages them to come out to the event in Perry next year to get educated on them "and experience what alpacas could possibly have to offer for them," he said.

For more information on alpacas or the festival, visit www.georgia-alpaca.com.

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published November 8, 2015 at 10:10 PM with the headline "Alpaca farmers, fiber fanatics converge in Perry ."