Seven-year-old Christopher Tenaglia sits in a semi-circle of plastic chairs set up behind the library at in Thornton. In his lap sits Moonshine, a 3-week-old goat, and Christopher gently strokes his black and white fur.
“What does it feel like?” asks Michelle Flagg, a friend of Christopher’s mother, Angela Tenaglia, who stands nearby.
“Fuzzy,” Christopher answers, still petting Moonshine.
“Not like ice cream,” Ryker Flagg, Michelle’s 5-year-old son, pipes up.
Future dates
: June 19; :June 20; :June 21;:June 25;:June 26. The visits are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Christopher and Ryker soon leave their seats so other people in the growing line can hold the goats. Itap only 10:15 a.m. — 15 minutes after the event began — and the crowd is already about 150 strong.
Within the semi-circle of chairs, employees of help children and parents hold the baby goats, while to the side of the semi-circle, people crowd around a pen of older goats, feeding them hay and asking questions to their caretakers.
Later, farm employees will demonstrate how to milk a goat and guide it through an obstacle course. For now, an overhead machine fills the air with bubbles, and children play on the library grounds in between interacting with the goats.
It was all part of annual summer tradition of bringing goats to its seven branches around Adams County.
Stacie Ledden, director of innovations and brand strategy for Anythink Libraries, estimated about 350 people came to the June 18 event at Anythink Wright Farm. She also projected that over two weeks and at seven branches, the goat visits will draw at least 2,500 people.
Caramel Apple Farm will next bring its goats to on June 19; to on June 20; to on June 21; to on June 25; and to on June 26. The visits are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Ledden said the events are “an incredible learning opportunity for people of all ages.” For some, itap also the first time they’re meeting these “smart, friendly, social” animals up close.
“This is one way that we can bring information to life — giving kids and families an opportunity to interact with these quirky, lovable animals,” she said.
Ledden said the goat visits started in 2013 when Anythink’s facility manager had the idea of hiring goats as an ecofriendly way of landscaping the overgrown weeds and natural vegetation at Anythink Wright Farms. There were 300 goats on the lawn that year, and it drew thousands of visitors to the library.
Though Anythink no longer uses goats as natural lawnmowers, the libraries now partner with Caramel Apple Farm to bring a much smaller group of goats to its seven locations. Ledden said since Anythink has a library in Bennett, where Caramel Apple Farm is located, the farm was a natural partner.
Denise Hopkins, who began Caramel Apple Farm with her husband in 2008, said the farm started bringing its goats to Anythink libraries four years ago. There were 16 goats at the June 18 Anythink Wright Farm visit.
Hopkins said goats are “versatile” animals that are easier to work with than cattle or horses, and which can be used for dairy products and trail packing.
She also said goats eat weeds, grass, alfalfa and grain — but be careful when holding them, because they like nibbling hair, too.
Hopkins said the event is reflective of Caramel Apple Farm’s “hands-on” approach.
“The second they’re born, (goats are) just covered with love, and then they get to come here and give out that love to everybody else,” she said.
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