By Scott Weybright, College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences
STANWOOD, Wash. – When Star‑Lord brags to his four million followers about winning a blue ribbon, you know it’s a big deal.
Actor, and Washington native, Chris Pratt, who plays the character Star‑Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, won a blue ribbon for outstanding fiber from his ewe (female sheep) Cacao at WSU’s Country Living Expo and Cattlemen’s Winterschool, Jan. 26 at Stanwood High School.
“Each submission is judged on its own anonymously, and his was the best,” said Joan DeVries, a coordinator with WSU’s Livestock Advisor Program, which hosts the event. “There were over 1,500 people here, so we don’t know if he was here or not. But his ewe must have had good fiber to earn a ribbon in FiberPalooza.”
The event, which completely takes over Stanwood High School for one Saturday each year, consisted of 170 different classes. Class topics range from cooking with Instant Pots to raising bees to sheep necropsy to welding, DeVries said.
“People are so energized and excited,” she said. “Most people haven’t sat in a high school classroom in several years, so they often just enjoy that experience.”
Attendees can choose five of the 170 classes, so people can come back year after year and never repeat a class, she said.
This year, Temple Grandin was the keynote speaker, doing two talks about best practices for handling livestock.
“She was fantastic,” DeVries said. “She’s 71‑years‑old, but still teaches twice a week, every week, around the world. And her passion for animals and how they think is inspiring.”
That passion for taking care of livestock is apparently something the actor Pratt has developed. In posts on his social media accounts, he admittedly bragged about his ribbon, ending it with “Boom chic‑Cacao cao!”
