Creative Economy BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

Just a few miles outside Bethel Village, nestled in West Bethel’s Pleasant Valley, lies Sunday River Alpacas, where each alpaca is named after a trail at Sunday River Ski area. It’s very easy to fall in love with this little llama cousin. Its soft liquid eyes fringed by long eyelashes exude the kind of calm that is contagious, and its gentle inquisitive nature welcomes each visitor to the alpaca farm

Maureen (“Mo”) Libby has been in the alpaca business for over three years and cares for a flock of more than twenty animals. Sunday River Alpacas is an alpaca breeding, boarding and shearing facility, and is partially supported by the farm store adjacent to the alpaca barn. .

The Alpaca community believe in educating the public on the benefits of the alpaca. Mo and members of her herd participate in a number of events, including the Bethel Camp for the Arts, Mollyockett Day, Harvestfest, the Sunday River Fall Festival, and the Oxford Fair. She hosts field trips to the farm for local elementary students and inner city children from Indiana. The farm and store are open to the public several afternoons a week, and also by appointment.

Not every animal on the farm is an alpaca! Mo’s Great Pyrenees dogs Barker and Aurora keep a watch over the alpaca herd, and help Mo teach other alpaca owners how to keep their animals safe using livestock-guarding dogs. Sunday River Alpacas support our local creative economy. Mo works with a group of area knitters to produce high-quality handcrafted items spun and knitted from her alpaca fiber. She supports alpaca origins by offering Peruvian-made woven and knitted garments. She is also helping a new alpaca owner develop a herd. This May, the farm will host Shearing Day, an event that will bring alpacas and owners from around the region for work and play with alpaca fiber.

For more information about Sunday River Alpacas, its schedule and events, please contact Maureen Libby at (207) 890-3148 and at molibby@msn.com.