Harley Hill Farm and the Community Perfect together!
Thursday, February 11, 2016
When Bill and Lori Oraschin purchased their first 3 alpacas in 2006, they had no idea of the opportunity that awaited them to have their farm and alpacas make such a positive impact on the
Community. Bill and Lori’s real love is sharing their alpacas. Here are some of the community outreach and events that they have been involved with.
Bucks County 4-H Pronking Pacas Club – Harley Hill Farm has sponsored the very first Llama/Alpaca Club in Bucks County PA. There are over 20 club members. Most of these children do not live on a farm or have an alpaca or llama of their own, so they are assigned a “Harley Hill” alpaca as their project. Members come to the farm once a month for a meeting, and also have an “open farm” day each month to come and work with their assigned alpacas.
The Mommy and Me Alpaca Extravaganza. This is an annual event which is always the last full weekend in June. The Mommy and Me event is designed for new and perspective alpaca breeders to come and take part in the 2 days of free seminars, and if they are ready to buy, there are 8 local alpaca breeders present under a great tent, with a huge variety of alpacas to choose from. Each participating farm must bring at least one female with a cria at side, who is either re-bred or who is sold with a free breeding. These 3 in 1 packages make it more affordable for new breeders to be able to start farming and enjoy the “alpaca lifestyle”.
Boy Scout, Girl Scout and Home School Visits – Harley Hill Farm Alpacas opens their doors “and gates” with an educational opportunity for parents to bring their children to the farm to learn about farming and alpacas. The only admission fee is that each child is asked to bring an item of non-perishable food that is then donated to the Quakertown PA Food Pantry.
Delta Epsilon Beta Sorority work days – There is a wonderful group of Animal Science and Agricultural majors from Delaware Valley College that come help with the farm work about once a month. These girls are not afraid to get dirty! They help with everything from cleaning pastures and stalls to toenail trims and medication. They even helped to clean and repaint all of the twenty seven windows in the alpaca barn last fall.
Easter Seals Alpaca Visits – Bill and Lori have developed a relationship with the Easter Seals of Eastern PA in Bethlehem. They bring alpacas to the ES center several times a year to let the children with disabilities experience the feel their very soft fleeces, gentle nature and the big brown eyes of the alpacas. These “therapy” alpacas seem to know how important their job is and they are so very gentle with the children, even letting children on crutches lead them. Watching the reaction of these special kids is by far the best reward that Bill and Lori could imagine.
Richland Township Fire Department – Harley Hill Farm Alpacas, and “Romeo” delivered a donation, and alpaca boot inserts to the local volunteer fire department last winter to help keep their feet warm on the fire calls in the cold weather. Most of these fire fighters had never seen an alpaca.
Quakertown, PA Our Home Town! – Harley Hill Farm Alpacas is very involved with the “Quakertown Alive” community group. This group has community events throughout the year, and alpacas are one of the main attractions at several of them. In the spring alpacas delight the crowds at the Arts Festival. In addition to bringing a group of adorable alpacas, there is not a better venue to share the beautiful fiber arts that can be created from their ultra soft fleece. Hand spinning and spinning wheel demonstrations are always a big hit. There is also a Quakertown alive Autumn Festival, and Harley Hill Farm Alpacas has donated the Christmas tree for the annual tree lighting ceremony in December. Harley Hill Alpacas are also a favorite at the Children’s summer program held at the Quakertown Library each summer.
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Picnic with the Alpacas – Each summer, on the last Saturday in July, the local community residents are invited to come spend some quality family time on the farm. This is a FREE event. Bill and Lori feel that they are so very fortunate to be able to enjoy quiet summer evenings sitting in the backyard watching their herd, and they wanted to share this with other families. Families are invited to bring a blanket and a picnic basket to watch the sunset over the fields in hopes of catching the dusk “Alpaca Pronking Show!”
Here are some other ways that Harley Hill Farm Alpacas stay involved with the local community:
They had a “pasture side picnic” for an assisted care facility that brought a group of wheelchair bound residents to enjoy an afternoon on the farm. They also have brought alpacas to visit residents at assisted care facilities.
Harley Hill Farm alpacas have play “camel” several times in a local church’s live nativity. This year’s performance will be on Saturday, December 15th at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, (Pleasant Valley) Cooperburg
On March 25th, 2012, Harley Hill Farm was featured on the national television program “CBS Sunday Morning” with Charles Osgood.
All of this activity keeps Bill and Lori Oraschin very busy as you can imagine, but seeing the face light up of a child and folks that have never had the joy of being with livestock makes all the hard work worth it! Harley Hill Farm is located in northern Bucks County, just outside of the town of Quakertown. The farm website address is www.harleyhillfarm.com
Community. Bill and Lori’s real love is sharing their alpacas. Here are some of the community outreach and events that they have been involved with.
Bucks County 4-H Pronking Pacas Club – Harley Hill Farm has sponsored the very first Llama/Alpaca Club in Bucks County PA. There are over 20 club members. Most of these children do not live on a farm or have an alpaca or llama of their own, so they are assigned a “Harley Hill” alpaca as their project. Members come to the farm once a month for a meeting, and also have an “open farm” day each month to come and work with their assigned alpacas.
The Mommy and Me Alpaca Extravaganza. This is an annual event which is always the last full weekend in June. The Mommy and Me event is designed for new and perspective alpaca breeders to come and take part in the 2 days of free seminars, and if they are ready to buy, there are 8 local alpaca breeders present under a great tent, with a huge variety of alpacas to choose from. Each participating farm must bring at least one female with a cria at side, who is either re-bred or who is sold with a free breeding. These 3 in 1 packages make it more affordable for new breeders to be able to start farming and enjoy the “alpaca lifestyle”.
Boy Scout, Girl Scout and Home School Visits – Harley Hill Farm Alpacas opens their doors “and gates” with an educational opportunity for parents to bring their children to the farm to learn about farming and alpacas. The only admission fee is that each child is asked to bring an item of non-perishable food that is then donated to the Quakertown PA Food Pantry.
Delta Epsilon Beta Sorority work days – There is a wonderful group of Animal Science and Agricultural majors from Delaware Valley College that come help with the farm work about once a month. These girls are not afraid to get dirty! They help with everything from cleaning pastures and stalls to toenail trims and medication. They even helped to clean and repaint all of the twenty seven windows in the alpaca barn last fall.
Easter Seals Alpaca Visits – Bill and Lori have developed a relationship with the Easter Seals of Eastern PA in Bethlehem. They bring alpacas to the ES center several times a year to let the children with disabilities experience the feel their very soft fleeces, gentle nature and the big brown eyes of the alpacas. These “therapy” alpacas seem to know how important their job is and they are so very gentle with the children, even letting children on crutches lead them. Watching the reaction of these special kids is by far the best reward that Bill and Lori could imagine.
Richland Township Fire Department – Harley Hill Farm Alpacas, and “Romeo” delivered a donation, and alpaca boot inserts to the local volunteer fire department last winter to help keep their feet warm on the fire calls in the cold weather. Most of these fire fighters had never seen an alpaca.
Quakertown, PA Our Home Town! – Harley Hill Farm Alpacas is very involved with the “Quakertown Alive” community group. This group has community events throughout the year, and alpacas are one of the main attractions at several of them. In the spring alpacas delight the crowds at the Arts Festival. In addition to bringing a group of adorable alpacas, there is not a better venue to share the beautiful fiber arts that can be created from their ultra soft fleece. Hand spinning and spinning wheel demonstrations are always a big hit. There is also a Quakertown alive Autumn Festival, and Harley Hill Farm Alpacas has donated the Christmas tree for the annual tree lighting ceremony in December. Harley Hill Alpacas are also a favorite at the Children’s summer program held at the Quakertown Library each summer.
+
Picnic with the Alpacas – Each summer, on the last Saturday in July, the local community residents are invited to come spend some quality family time on the farm. This is a FREE event. Bill and Lori feel that they are so very fortunate to be able to enjoy quiet summer evenings sitting in the backyard watching their herd, and they wanted to share this with other families. Families are invited to bring a blanket and a picnic basket to watch the sunset over the fields in hopes of catching the dusk “Alpaca Pronking Show!”
Here are some other ways that Harley Hill Farm Alpacas stay involved with the local community:
They had a “pasture side picnic” for an assisted care facility that brought a group of wheelchair bound residents to enjoy an afternoon on the farm. They also have brought alpacas to visit residents at assisted care facilities.
Harley Hill Farm alpacas have play “camel” several times in a local church’s live nativity. This year’s performance will be on Saturday, December 15th at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, (Pleasant Valley) Cooperburg
On March 25th, 2012, Harley Hill Farm was featured on the national television program “CBS Sunday Morning” with Charles Osgood.
All of this activity keeps Bill and Lori Oraschin very busy as you can imagine, but seeing the face light up of a child and folks that have never had the joy of being with livestock makes all the hard work worth it! Harley Hill Farm is located in northern Bucks County, just outside of the town of Quakertown. The farm website address is www.harleyhillfarm.com
