If you’re looking for an example of someone who never gives up, look no further than sheep show competitor Ellen Mabry.
Mabry was born and raised in Stanly County. The farm she was raised on was first owned by her grandfather and later purchased by her father and will soon be 100 years old. They raised sheep on their farm as Mabry was growing up which got her interested in the animals. After graduating from West Stanly High School she went on to study at UNC-Greensboro where she majored in Home Economics. While there, she also took several classes which today would be the equivalent of a minor in fiber arts.
Influenced by her upbringing on the farm and the classes she took in college, Mabry ended up buying three sheep. In 1991, she began participating in livestock shows showing sheep. Before that, starting in 1981, she showed horses.
Mabry lost one of her legs in November 2013, shortly after the State Fair came to a close. She was visiting her daughter and attending a N.C. State ball game when she wore a new pair of shoes and ended up getting a blister. At the time she thought nothing of it, and shortly after the game she went to work as the show secretary at the Junior Youth Show. Over the next couple of days her foot swelled and ultimately became septic. At Duke Hospital she was told that while they could try to save her leg she would more than likely have to lose it due to the extent of the damage.
“I said ‘Take it off!’” Mabry said, recounting her reaction after hearing the news.
After taking some time to adjust to the change, Mabry soon got back to work. She had to grow accustomed to navigating the world without a leg. Some challenges that she noted having to overcome were things like uneven ground, loose gravel, and balancing. Now, she’s in a program at N.C. State with their Biomedical Engineering post doc students where she’s been designed a “bionic leg” which is controlled with the residual muscles in her leg.
Despite these challenges, Mabry refused to let this deter her from the show ring.
“My goal was to show sheep again,” she said. For the most part, she finds that showing sheep is more or less the same. It requires a bit more work because she has to train the animals to be shown while using her mobility cart but she doesn’t let that discourage her. Mabry started showing again in 2017 and hasn’t missed a wool show since. She also helps announce and serves as a clerk for the junior wool show when she isn’t showing.
“It’s just kind of the thrill of raising something and showing it there,” Mabry shared. She’s always considered herself to be a very competitive person, so the drive to continue showing sheep despite losing her leg was very strong. In addition to showing sheep, she also regularly enters other competitions such as quilting and wool felting. Her competitiveness, she shared, extended even into her hobbies such as knitting, spinning and weaving.
Today, Mabry has already started preparing for the 2025 State Fair and is currently tying to pick out which animals she’s going to enter at the show this year. The fair is something she looks forward to every year.
“My favorite thing is all the people and families we’ve met doing this. It’s like having a big reunion whenever we do the show,” Mabry said. For many of the competitors, they only see each other once a year so it’s always exciting to meet at the shows.
Other activities that Mabry has participated in over the years include showing horses at the N.C. State Fair, and she has also worked with N.C. State University to help them develop a bionic leg. She is an award-winning quilter and has won several ribbons at the N.C. State Fair. She is a member of the Piedmont Fiber Guild, Charlotte Quilt Guild and the Charlotte Modern Quilt Guild. She is also a licensed auctioneer.
Mabry is a longtime ambassador for the sheep industry and the State Fair. Her involvement includes judging the N.C. Make it With Wool competition for around 10 years non-consecutively. She has spoken at countless 4-H groups, churches, libraries and other youth organizations about sheep. She has done many spinning, weaving, knitting, needle felting and other fiber arts demonstrations and held cooking demonstrations at the State Farmers market using lamb to promote the lamb industry in the state.
This year, Mabry will receive an additional honor of being inducted into the N.C. State Fair Livestock Hall of Fame. She was nominated by the N.C. Sheep Producers Association for her longtime support of the N.C. State Fair.