Showcasing fiber, other arts
The morning routine at Iron Horse Farm starts with 32 llamas, 56 sheep, 50 chickens, 20 angora goats, eight angora rabbits, seven cats, and five dogs. That's how many mouths Deborah and Skip Smith have to feed before they head off to their "real" jobs -- or turn to other tasks, like the Fiber/Art Festival Deborah will host in Sherborn this weekend.
"We didn't really plan on this," said Smith, 51, explaining that she and her husband purchased their 3-acre -- and at the time animal-free -- farm in Sherborn in 1989 as a home at which Skip could base his landscaping business.
But Deborah Smith, a neonatal nurse, had been an avid knitter since she was a child. So, when Skip brought home two Angora rabbits for her in 1993, she figured she could find the time to raise the little critters for wool.
"So, we started with two rabbits and somehow it just multiplied from there," she said. "Now we have the sheep and goats and llamas and, oh yeah, the chickens -- can't forget the chickens."
But it doesn't stop there. As their livestock count and wool supply grew, Smith evolved into a promoter of all things related to fiber arts. She held knitting, spinning, and felting classes. She organized a co-op of 24 local fiber artisans. In 2002, the Smiths converted their barn into a shop selling the co-op's wares, wool from the farm, and fresh eggs. Smith runs it during the day while keeping her hospital shifts at night.
By 2003, she'd caught the attention of Sherborn's special events committee, who invited her to organize a festival showcasing the co-op's artists. She did, and now after a three-year hiatus, she's back with a new event -- the first Fiber/Art Festival in Sherborn, which will feature work by 31 artists, including jewelry, pottery, handmade tiles, mosaics, knitwear and knitting kits, hand-woven textiles, quilts, and candles.
"This time we're featuring not only local artists but also artists from throughout New England," she said. "This is a juried show, and we only selected the best."
Like the original event, the festival will take place at Sherborn's restored community center, the 1828 House. "The Old World feel in the building fits what we're offering because everything will be handmade," Smith said.
Smith, who raised three children as her farm grew, has two secrets to her nonstop pace. "I don't get much sleep," she said. "But it's also just so gratifying. Both the animals and getting to knit and spin and teach other people how do to do what I love doing just keeps me going."
Being open to opportunities also helped. Back when all they had was rabbits, a friend offered the Smiths a few rare Shetland sheep.
"We weren't farmers. I had been around ponies and horses as a kid, but I never did the day-to-day maintenance care, and Skip, well, all he had had was one dog and about 20 cats," Smith said. Nonetheless, they didn't hesitate.
"We brought four sheep from Pennsylvania on a 10 1/2-hour ride in dog crates in the back of our Expedition on one of the hottest days in August," she said, adding that she then steeped herself in literature on sheep care. "We have a livestock trailer now. We're a little more sophisticated now."
A perfectionist of sorts, Smith then set out to produce the highest-quality wool. So she added much-praised Jacob and Icelandic sheep to her flock. The local coyotes then took her in yet a new direction.
"We have such a high population of coyotes around here that we needed guard animals. So we got three llamas. But then we really loved the llamas. They're just such intelligent, majestic animals. So now we breed them."
These days, the Smiths are animal farm experts on everything from fun llama facts (they naturally create communal manure piles, so it's easy to harvest dung for fertilizer) to the benefits of keeping free-range chickens (they eat mosquito larvae and ticks).
But, true to form, Smith is now set on a new project. "If the art festival goes well, I'm hoping to make it an annual event," she said. "I already have a waiting list for next year, and I'm really looking forward to searching for interesting artists in the region."
The Fiber/Art Festival will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Sherborn Community Center/1858 Town House at 3 Sanger St. in Sherborn. Admission $5, children under 12 free. Call 508-653-3433 or visit ironhorsefarm.org.
FROM SLAVE TO MINUTEMAN: For nearly two centuries, one of Framingham's most interesting former citizens lay buried and forgotten. But after five years of dogged research, actor and historian Bruce Harris of Cambridge has set out to share the story of Peter Salem , a slave and Minuteman who served every day of the Revolutionary War.
"He was the Forrest Gump of the American Revolution. He was a guy who nobody records in American history, but he was around for some of the greatest events in the formation of this country," Harris said. "He was at Lexington and Concord, he was at Bunker Hill, he meets George Washington, he fights at Saratoga under Benedict Arnold. He's just there, but because he was a black person in that time period, nobody noticed him."
Until now. On Sunday in Natick, Harris will present a living history presentation dressed as Salem, but in his own voice. He'll share the stories of Salem's life as a northern slave, an African-American soldier, and a struggling veteran so revered by his community that a street was named after him.
Harris also will recount the detective-like persistence it took to turn up the facts of Salem's life through tax records, war documents, loan papers, an interview conducted during his lifetime, and a few serendipitous finds, such as when he visited Salem's grave in Framingham's Old Burying Ground.
"I was standing at his grave, and this woman came out," he said. "It turned out she had a whole box of stuff related to Salem in her basement. . . . I still can't believe how much information was just sitting untouched at everybody's feet all these years."
Jennifer Hance , the new executive director of the Natick Historical Society, organized the event and said more will follow. Hance hopes to triple the society's public events from four to 12 a year, and is seeking suggestions on what to feature.
"Peter Salem -- Fighting in the Hope of Freedom" will be presented at 2 p.m. Sunday at John Eliot Memorial Hall at 40 Eliot St. in South Natick. Admission will be free. Call 508-647-4841 or visit natickhistoricalsociety.com.
MOZART REVEALED: Fresh from the UK, where it has garnered rave reviews, the new documentary, "In Search of Mozart," will make its Boston-area debut on Tuesday at the West Newton Cinema. Made by award-winning British filmmaker Phil Grabsky , it is no less than a monumental effort.
As Grabsky tours with his camera along Mozart's path through Europe, he interviews dozens of experts and musicians, records snippets of nearly 100 works performed by leading artists (including diva Renée Fleming and pianist Imogene Cooper ), and all the while delves into Mozart's bawdy, passionate, humorous, and sometimes pain-filled letters (read by actor Sam West ).
"This film dispels a bunch of myths about Mozart, which is why I'm so excited about it," said Newton Symphony Orchestra executive director Letitia Stevens , who organized the screening.
The movie will be preceded by a quartet performance and is a benefit for the orchestra. If it's a success, Stevens hopes to present a music film series that would range from Wagner-filled Bugs Bunny cartoons and "Fantasia" to documentaries.
"In Search of Mozart" will be screened at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the West Newton Cinema at 1296 Washington St. in West Newton. Tickets are $12. Call 617-965-2555 or visit www.newtonsymphony.org.
FLYING LAWN CHAIRS AND SUCH: How does one grow up to be a juggler of improbable things like electric guitars, lawn chairs, and the occasional birdbath? In the case of the Airborne Comedians, it was a bout of good old-fashioned one-upmanship.
One winter in Spencerport, N.Y., high school buddies Joel Harris and Dan Foley were bored. Harris started juggling three snowballs. Foley did it, too. Then Harris added a toss under the leg. Stymied, Foley went home to practice and upped the ante with a toss behind the back. Harris countered by learning to juggle four balls. From there, it was just a slippery slope.
"It went all the way to juggling flaming lawn chairs and riding 7-foot unicycles," said Foley, adding that the competition continued through their college years. "So, eventually, we just started street performing."
Now in their early 40s and based in Boston, the two men have toured nationally and have long been Boston First Night favorites for their unusual stunts and outrageous humor (visit airbornecomedians.com/movies.html for a movie clip) .
They will perform two shows tomorrow at the Newton Jewish Community Center.
The Airborne Comedians will perform at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. tomorrow at the Leventhal-Sidman JCC at 333 Nahanton St. in Newton. Tickets are $8. Call 617-965-5226.
Information about arts events may be sent to westarts@globe.com. 
