GUSTAVUS TOWNSHIP — As “Good Morning America” rolls out today at John and Jerry Lipps’ farm on Hayes Road, Sharon and Steve Grover’s farm animals may be brief TV stars.
The Grovers own Ridgeview Farm in Middlefield .
Tuesday morning, the Grovers took three chickens, a pig called Houdini, a bull calf named Skipper and three sheep to the Lipps farm.
“We got a call from the GMA producer a week ago, asking if we could loan the production crew some animals,” said Sharon Grover. “They had apparently tried to get farm animals from Lake Farmpark in Kirtland but couldn’t. (The) Lake Farmpark people referred them to us,” she said.
The Lipps family was contacted back in April to participate in GMA’s live broadcast today.
Herding a stubborn calf and the pig into the Grovers’ farm trailer was the first obstacle. Once on their way, they had to get through Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Mino, who was stationed at the end of Hayes Road.
“You are still in Ashtabula County,” Mino said, smiling, as he let the Grover vehicles through the first security stop.
“That pig of ours is called Houdini for a reason,” Sharon jokes. “He gets out of his pen in our barn and likes to sleep with the calf at night,” she said. “We hope the pens are strong and we don’t have to chase the animals after the show.”
The GMA set design crew built temporary pens for the animals, according to John Lipps.
The Lipps farm is close to the railroad tracks, just west across a cornfield. GMA picked Gustavus to represent Ohio on the “Good Morning America’s Whistle Stop Tour.”
Back on the Lipps family’s farm, Steve Grover and John Lipps provided food, hay and straw to the Grovers’ critters overnight.
“We took the chickens to the temporary pens, as they can stay out overnight,” said Sharon as she and the Lipps’ daughter Jenna helped scoot them out of the carrying bags.
Today, the Grover family, including their five children, gets a chance to be at the live broadcast.
“The kids are excited. We have to get up at 4;:30 a.m., which is not such a treat,” Sharon laughed.
Activity picked up Tuesday as GMA crews were busy putting a stage down the road for a performance by country music star Brad Paisley, which is expected to draw hundreds of area fans. Tickets were sold out on Saturday for today’s show, which will be broadcast on ABC affiliated stations from 7 to 9 a.m.
Roads around the Lipps family farm will be closed off before and during the live broadcast today.
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Grovers loan animals for ‘Good Morning America show
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