Lodi
Sheep
Lodi was born January 28, 2021, in Lodi, Virginia. He was born on a sheep farm, but, for whatever reason, his mother rejected him. The sheep farmer was unable to care for him so a neighbor lady agreed to bottle feed him until a buyer could be found.
NarroWay’s composer/conductor, Yvonne “Birdie” Clark, has a brother in that area who happens to be a large animal veterinarian and came across this little fella. Her brother called to ask if we would like to add a lamb to the NarroWay herd.
Who can resist a bottle-sucking lamb!? “Birdie” picked him up in her vehicle and brought the lamb to NarroWay. He was two months old and we named him after his birthplace – Lodi. It just suited him!
We aren’t sure of Lodi’s breed. We were told he is Katahdin, but one look at his wool quickly dispels that belief! Lodi grows a thick, woolly coat he cannot shed on his own. He is the only sheep we currently have that must be sheared. Lora McCoy, NarroWay’s Theatre Manager, never imagined adding sheep-shearing to her skill set. But this Kentucky girl has become the queen of cotton! She shears Lodi once, sometimes twice, each year. He hates shearing time but loves his skinny look when all that wool is out of the way on hot days.
Lodi is the obvious leader of the flock and typically hangs around the other sheep while in the field. His strong personality makes him the most dominant sheep, but he is sweetly compliant on stage.
Although he was bottle fed and handled extensively from birth, Lodi is the most disagreeable animal of the herd when it comes to vet visits, hoof trimming or medications. Sometimes, he even tries to jump over his stall door to avoid taking medicine!
Sheep are essential to biblical shows and Lodi is in every biblical show at NarroWay. He, with all his wooly friends, are featured in “Jesus, the Teacher” and “The Real Christmas Story.”