Ms. Shirley also participated in a conservation essay program that provides rare lambs to young people interested in helping endangered breeds. The program's sponsors sought candidates that would appreciate the importance of conservation, promote rare breeds actively and take good care of the animals entrusted to them. Colonial Williamsburg awarded a Leicester Longwool ewe lamb to 15 year-old Emily Chamelin, of Westminster, MD. "We must do our best to preserve all breeds so that no genetic potential is lost because we don't know what our future livestock production challenges may be," Ms. Chamelin noted in her application. Hope Yankee of Wild 'N Woolly Farm in Mathias, West Virginia, presented a Coopworth lamb to Echo Bartsch, age 14, of Warwick, Maryland who committed to "do my best to raise the public's awareness of [this rare breed] through presentations, displays and handouts." Alexis Becker, age 12, of Lineboro, Maryland, described how much she enjoys "training [her] sheep ...caring for them daily and showing them." She received a Karakul lamb from Richard and Donna Larson of Old Gjerpen Farm in Nokesville, Virginia. The Larsons developed and implemented this program, attracting 17 entrants from Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and North Carolina in its second year. Don Bixby, Executive Director of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy presided over the awards ceremony in the show ring, just before the Festival's Parade of Breeds, where the Cotswold, Jacob and Tunis rounded out the rare sheep contingent.