Llamas are back at Derry Township fair, along with a new generation of handlers

This is the year for llamas and the local folks who love them.

Count among them 2-year-old Rodeo and his handler, McKenna Gettemy, 15, of Unity.

“I think he’s super-chill,” the teen said of her shaggy partner in local fair show rings. “He doesn’t kick when you touch his back legs.

“He likes hugs, and he likes listening to music when you’re brushing him. I just play him anything, but he’s been into Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.”

Gettemy and her younger siblings — brother Rian, 14, and sister Claire, 9 — are among about 10 exhibitors expected to show their llamas at the Derry Township Agricultural Fair beginning Sunday.

It’s the first time in nearly a decade the beasts of burden, originally imported from South America, will be featured at the local fair along Route 982 near New Derry. They and their handlers will get a once-over from the judges as they vie for awards at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

“The last few years, we didn’t have the number of youths exhibiting llamas we used to,” said fair President Brandon Komar. “The number had gone down significantly, but they’re slowly coming up.”

The Gettemy kids are the second generation of their family to bond with llamas, following in the footsteps of their father, Matt. Along with his parents, Bob and Bev, and wife, Alida, he helps care for the family’s three llamas.

He originally joined together with some friends in the early ’90s to form a 4-H club focused on their favorite animal, Llamas ‘R Us.

With subsequent years of experience exhibiting at shows around the country, he’s been dubbed the “llama whisperer” by his family.

“Their docile nature just appealed to me,” Matt Gettemy said of his love affair with llamas.

Still, they won’t let just anybody stroke their banana-shaped ears — a level of comfort Peaches, another member of the family’s herd, has with Matt.

“It takes work to get to that point,” he said. “It’s getting them used to you, your voice and your touch; no fast movements, no loud noises.”

All family members pitch in when it comes time to shear their llamas’ coats of fiber. They give the fiber to a neighbor, who spins it into yarn.

Bev Gettemy, who serves as superintendent of the Derry llama show and helps oversee a similar show at the Westmoreland Fair, said it’s most important to trim their bellies, where they shed excess heat.

The Gettemys also use a hose to cool off the animals.

“It helps to desensitize the llamas, getting something hitting on their legs,” Bev Gettemy said of the water spray.

That can help handlers prepare the llamas for competing in an obstacle course at the fair.

“They’re asking their animal to trust them as they walk through water or go through a tunnel and let people pet them,” Gettemy said. “They’re given 10 points for each obstacle if they go through it easily and the llama doesn’t pull or refuse.”

Though they’re generally laid back, llamas will chase off predatory animals and often are used to guard other livestock. Another Gettemy herd member, 2-year-old Keegan, is protective of the family’s sheep.

They’re also good at public relations. In the past, the Gettemys took llamas to visit nursing homes.

At one time, the Gettemy herd numbered about 30 llamas, but the family phased out their involvement with the animals once Matt aged out of 4-H activities.

Now, as Bev Gettemy’s grandchildren have shown an interest, her family is reestablishing the herd through breeding.

“We have five llamas now, and, hopefully, we’ll have a baby in the fall,” she said.

It couldn’t come at a more appropriate time, as the United Nations is celebrating 2024 as the International Year of Camelids.

In addition to llamas, that group of related animals includes alpacas, Bactrian camels, dromedaries, guanacos and vicuñas. The U.N. notes camelids “contribute to food security, nutrition and economic growth as well as holding a strong cultural and social significance for communities across the world.”

In Derry Township, Bev Gettemy hopes the return of the fair’s llama show will be the start of a resurgence in interest in the animals and in their numbers.

“I’m excited to see it coming back,” she said. “We’re kind of coming full circle again.”