Barnyard Petting Zoo returns to Greene County Fair
WAYNESBURG 鈥揊airgoers will once again have the opportunity to engage with adorable baby animals in a close-up, hand-on experience through the Barnyard Petting Zoo, which will be featured at the Greene County Fair from Monday, Aug. 10 through Saturday Aug. 15.
The Barnyard Petting Zoo, owned by Jan Marchezak and sponsored by the Greene County Messenger and the 缅北禁地 newspapers, will feature baby pigs, lambs, baby goats, a baby llama, miniature ponies, calves and donkeys, as well as a baby camel and a baby zebra.
This year, there will also be puppies at the petting zoo, as they are a crowd favorite. Because all of the animals are friendly and social, people are welcome to feed, pet, hug and take pictures with the animals.
The Barnyard Petting Zoo stands out from other petting zoos because of how the animals are reared; all of the baby animals are hand- and bottle-raised, so they are well acclimated to human touch. Because the Barnyard Petting Zoo tours around the tri-state area of southwestern Pennsylvania, visiting schools, birthday parties, fairs, festivals, and company picnics, they have multitudes of animals, with new additions every year.
鈥淎ll of the animals we bring each year are new babies,鈥� Marchezak explained. 鈥淲e breed them all. I have generations of animals that have been at the fair.鈥�
Marchezak, who founded the Barnyard Petting Zoo in 1981, was inspired to raise animals ever since she was a little girl, when she would listen to her father talk about the array of animals his family raised. Inspired by his experiences, Marchezak decided that was what she wanted to do that as well. 鈥淢y love of goats is what started it all,鈥� Marchezak explained. 鈥淲hen I was 19 years old, I got my first pair of goats. They were the backbone of the Barnyard Petting Zoo.鈥�
To this day, she has descendants of the original pair of goats.
What started as a pair of goats has evolved into a traveling petting zoo that continues to captivate fair goers every year. In Marchezak鈥檚 experience, everyone who attends the fair in the evening stops by to see the animals.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something about animals drives people in,鈥� Marchezak explained. 鈥淎nimals are all-accepting; if you treat them with kindness, they鈥檒l be your best friend.鈥�
Marchezak has a personal and emotional connection with her animals as a result of raising them from such a young age. She admitted to have struggled with being too overprotective of her baby animals.
鈥淚 have an emotional attachment to these animals,鈥� Marchezak stated.
In the past, she found it hard to trust people to handle the animals gently enough, something she is learning to get over.
鈥淚鈥檝e learned to share my babies with other people because it brings them happiness,鈥� Marchezak said.
Her petting zoo has proved to light up faces with smiles as children and adults are delighted by baby pigs, miniature ponies, and many more baby animals.
Though Marchezak has shared her Barnyard Petting Zoo through many venues, she is always excited to go back to the Greene County Fair.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always a wonderful experience,鈥� Marchezak said. 鈥淭he visitors are so nice to the animals; it鈥檚 always a pleasure.鈥�