CCNF at the 2026 Eastern Alpaca Jamboree

Yeah, yeah: I’m two-plus months behind the curve in getting these results up online. My farm blog, my timeline: deal with your loss. Plus, as much as I might flatter myself on the day, I doubt there were any of you waiting with bated breath for this particular post.

So what is there to say about the 2026 Eastern Alpacas Jamboree which, as in years past, was made up of three separate shows: the Empire Spring Show, the PAOBA Breeder’s Showcase, and our grizzled old friend, the North American Alpaca Show? It was, as always, a great event with some genuinely jaw-dropping alpacas in the various show rings.

Some of those animals were even ours, while others were not ours but had strong genetic ties to our program, and a few were blessedly mostly unrelated, albeit mostly in the color classes and groups we tend to play in less frequently.

Now if you are one of those people who likes to root for the smaller programs/teams against the established big guys (and on some level, who doesn’t?), whether it be here in the insular world of alpaca shows, baseball, hockey, football, or sailing (look up the 1983 America’s Cup): this was the alpaca show weekend for you! While we generally did just fine and held our own — and with the caveat that the standard for what is considered a “successful” show weekend has gotten to be genuinely obnoxious around here — we had several Bridesmaid experiences and were completely shut out of the six Judge’s Choice awards for the first time in several years. Oh, the horrors! Yeah, not so much. And just to be absolutely clear: the animals that beat us both in any regular classes, the Championship classes, as well as the ones that won those six JCs, all won them legitimately. Heartfelt congratulations to all of those breeders and their programs!

Now, do we wish that most of those same animals that beat us didn’t also share many of their genetics directly with our breeding program? I mean, duh. Ah, yes, the radical notion that genetic diversity for the high end of the domestic alpaca herd would provide a far healthier and sustainable way forward. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: nothing would thrill us more than to get beaten by genetics consistently different from our own, as it would be the sign of a much healthier genetic pool of alpacas, medium and long-term. The dream lives but is in dire need of an assist. We move forward.

Of note in our results you’ll find a couple of alpacas, CCNF & Paragon’s Habanera and her older half brother, CCNF Sovereign Tenor, who, A. we co-own now with our friends at Paragon Alpacas (AKA the wonderful Bari Padgett and family), and B. are both the maternal offspring of one lovely aging female in our herd: Chatham Lancaster’s La Boheme. Is this a cheap plug meant to tug at the heartstrings of our old friend and colleague, Judith Zimbalist, Boheme’s OG human mother? Yes, yes, it is. That Bo also has an older daughter (not coincidentally, named Judith), due here with a cria in the coming weeks, speaks volumes about the quality and genetic versatility of our quirky girl and her line in general. I love me a genetic narrative. I digress, though.

You may also notice a couple of different friendly faces in our show photos below! The first is our old friend and customer Daniel Weinfurter of Sun Star Alpacas of Germany, who, along with his wife, Cornelia, had just purchased two of the best animals from our 2025 birth class prior to the Jamboree: CCNF Snow Enterprise (CCNF Summer Breez x CCNF Snow King) and CCNF Altura (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max, which makes her Amador’s and Amadea’s full kid sister). It speaks to the critical mass we have reached here in our breeding program that we were in a position to let those two go without markedly setting ourselves back genetically. We don’t always hoard; we have just learned the hard way that genetic redundancy is a good thing. The other new smiling face you’ll see in our show pics is the lovely Bianca Thielmann of Sunny Island Alpacas in northern Germany, who had likewise visited us at home just prior to the Jamboree and selected our super-dam Capuchin’s latest ringer for export as well: CCNF Knight Dancer (CCNF Capuchin x CCNF Reign Dancer)! We feel Bianca chose…wisely. Getting to send some of our top stuff overseas again, where those animals will get the opportunity to hopefully spread their wings a bit more genetically than they would have here in the US, has been and shall remain for the time being, an attractive proposition.

CCNF Snow Enterprise (CCNF Summer Breez x CCNF Snow King)
CCNF Altura (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max)
CCNF Knight Dancer (CCNF Capuchin x CCNF Reign Dancer)
CCNF Sovereign Tenor (Chatham Lancaster’s La Boheme x CCNF Sovereign-Legacy)
CCNF The-Alchemy (CCNF Delilah x Majestic Peruvian Bell Ringer)
CCNF Baela (CCNF Lyanna x CCNF Bataclan)
CCNF Valletta (CCNF Val-Alpine x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max)
CCNF Elite Nova (CCNF Batarosa x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max)
CCNF & Paragon’s Habanera (Chatham Lancaster’s La Boheme x Gray Alpaca Co’s Gray Enough)
CCNF Donostia (CCNF Delilah x CCNF Camden)
CCNF Amalea Dancer (CCNF Amelie x CCNF Reign Dancer)
CCNF Bellerophon (CCNF Bellinda x CCNF Reign Dancer)
CCNF Diomedes (CCNF Diadema x CCNF Snow King)
CCNF Lunar Bell (CCNF Luna Majesty x Mjestic Peruvian Bell Ringer)
CCNF Milan (CCNF Dark Storm’s Trendsetter x CCNF Camden)
CCNF Roman (CCNF Rhaeynera x Majestic Peruvian Bell Ringer)
CCNF Seraphine (CCNF Sapphire x CCNF Snow King)
Local 802 Barn B*tches: Dave, Vin, and Dell show off their new union shirts at the start of show day #1.

Lastly, back where the Jamboree is concerned, thanks as always to our band of friends (even if they did unionize on us this time around, see pictures above) who continue to show up for this event with us year after year: Dell Rodman, Dave Serino, Vin Veratti, and our incomparable pit-boss, Sue Monat, who has spent many years now (we are so sorry, Sue: love you!) keeping us on the straight and narrow during these show weekends. We do not know what we have done to deserve this loyalty, but it is incredibly special and fun to have them all along for the ride, even on those days when it’s maybe not going so well. Thanks also to old friends and fellow survivors, Scott and Ann Young, for their consistent herding of the proverbial cats while running the Jamboree, all while still keeping smiles on their faces. Thanks as ever also to the judges (And speaking of incomparable – we give you the mighty Jude Anderson at her final east coast gig ever! Senior judge, mentor to many, suri breeder beyond compare, rocker of the pant suit, and last and most importantly to us: a beloved friend.), and the many volunteers without whom an event such as the Jamboree could simply not be pulled off. So you win some, you lose some, you drink wine some, and go out for dinners with people you love. Not the worst way to spend a weekend in central Pennsylvania. In fact, on balance, it was all pretty great. Ok, enough blather! Show results below! 🙂

Cas-Cad-Nac Farm, Winner – 2026 Eastern Alpaca Jamboree Breeders Cup, Large Farm Division, Huacaya

Empire Alpaca Association Spring Show, 4/10/26

CCNF Knight Dancer (CCNF Capuchin x CCNF Reign Dancer) – Champion Black Huacaya Male

CCNF Sovereign Tenor (Chatham Lancaster’s La Boheme x CCNF Sovereign-Legacy) – Champion Brown Huacaya Male

CCNF Altura (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Champion White Huacaya Female

CCNF Baela (CCNF Lyanna x CCNF Bataclan) – Reserve Champion Brown Huacaya Female

CCNF Valletta (CCNF Val-Alpine x CCNF Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – Reserve Champion Fawn Huacaya Female

CCNF Donostia (CCNF Delilah x CCNF Camden) – Reserve Champion White Huacaya Female

CCNF Snow Enterprise (CCNF Summer Breez x CCNF Snow King) – Reserve Champion White Huacaya Male

CCNF Knight Dancer (CCNF Capuchin x CCNF Reign Dancer) – 1st Place, Black Juvenile Huacaya Males

CCNF Baela (CCNF Lyanna x CCNF Bataclan) – 1st Place, Brown Juvenile Huacaya Females

CCNF Roman (CCNF Rhaeynera x Majestic Peruvian Bell Ringer) – 1st Place, Brown Juvenile Huacaya Males

CCNF Sovereign Tenor (Chatham Lancaster’s La Boheme x CCNF Sovereign-Legacy) – 1st Place, Brown Two-Year-Old Huacaya Males

CCNF Milan (CCNF Dark Storm’s Trend Setter x CCNF Camden) – 1st Place, Medium Fawn Juvenile Huacaya Males

CCNF Amalea Dancer (CCNF Amelie x CCNF Reign Dancer) – 1st Place, Dark Fawn Juvenile Huacaya Females

CCNF Altura (CCNF Amalthea x Irish Meadow’s Elite Max) – 1st Place, White Juvenile Huacaya Females

PAOBA Breeder’s Showcase, 4/11/26