Remembering rabbits and ribbons
We can’t let this week go by without mentioning the St. Lawrence County Fair in Gouverneur. It’s on through August 5th. I have fond memories of exhibiting at the Anoka County Fair in my home state, Minnesota.
I was active in my local 4-H club — the Northwest Sunnysiders — and remember loading the pickup with crates of ducks, chickens, roosters (for the crowing contest) and rabbits. This is me in the mid-70’s with “Captain”, who won a blue ribbon that year:
Zen and the art of bunny maintenance. Captain was an American Dutch and one of about 2 or 3 rabbits that I exhibited each summer at the county fair.
One year, I got a first-place blue ribbon for my vegetable garden exhibit. That meant if the local Grand Champion or Reserve Champion couldn’t attend the State Fair, I would go. I got the call about a week before the State Fair in St. Paul and assembled my collection of veggies from the garden — tomatoes, beets, onions, summer squash, beans, potatoes. It was lots of fun staying in a dormitory on the fair grounds with 4-Hers from all over the state. But not so fun when the judge informed me that potatoes weren’t allowed at the state level and I was given a white ribbon. Guess I was so excited I didn’t read the fine print.
Live and learn.
Tags: 4h, county fair, livestock, rabbits, teens
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Hooray for prize winning rabbits! Hooray also for 4-H! I have a vested interest in 4-H as a person who works for Cooperative Extension and as a mom of a 4-Her, and have spent some time in the youth dorms at the State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. I wonder if the beds are more comfortable in Minnesota?