The 2002 Mower County Fair has come and gone. The 4-Hers that won't be advancing to state level will be accessing on how they can improve their project(s) for next year. I have six children and my two oldest children, Danny and Mary, were in the Merry Lane 4-H Club in Blooming Prairie for several years. They showed their projects at the Steele County Fair. They never advanced to state. They enjoyed being in 4-H especially playing spring softball. Their first year in 4-H, I was excited for them as I never had the opportunity to be in 4-H when I was young. The first year, they decided to exhibit rabbits and broilers. Broilers are chickens raised for meat. The rabbits we raised as pets, and they ran all over the yard. The chickens we purchased in early summer so they would be butchering size at fair time.

The day for bringing the exhibits to the Steele County Fair was the Monday before the fair actually opened. My five children were ages 9, 8, 6, 3 and 6 months old. It was a lot work getting the children fed, making sure the babies had their naps and grooming the animals before we loaded them into their cages. My husband, Tom was busy cutting hay and you have to make hay while the sun shines, so I told Danny and Mary to get their rabbits and chickens cleaned for exhibiting them that afternoon. I was breast feeding the baby, Theresa so I couldn't help them either.

As I nursed Theresa, I kept an eye on Danny and Mary and saw Mary brushing and combing her rabbit. I knew how meticulous Mary was so I thought she was making her pure white rabbit's coat shine.

An hour later I told the two of them to get their animals in cages and we would go to the fair. I didn't inspect the animals, as I had seen Mary grooming her rabbit so well and I was busy getting everyone in the car. When we got to the fair, I looked at her rabbit in its cage and I gasped. The rabbit's fur was cut bare from both sides, and all it had left for fur was a row in the middle of the it’s back, all stiff and standing straight up.

"What did you do to your rabbit?" I yelled.

Mary didn't want to look at me but said softly, "You said to groom it, so I cut its fur and I found an old can of hairspray in the bathroom and put that all over it to make the fur stand up so it would be pretty."

I didn't know what to do. I was alone with five small children and we lived 15 miles from Owatonna. The rabbit judging was going on right then and Mary's name was announced so she reluctantly brought her rabbit to be judged. The judge looked puzzled at the rabbit and then said, "Your rabbit's in a cage with too many other rabbits and they pulled the fur off it. Keep it in cage by itself so it can get better."

Mary didn’t tell him what she had done, because she was too embarrassed. I didn't say anything, as it was her project and parents had been warned to let the children speak for themselves about their projects.

My husband took the children to the fair the next day and the rabbit coordinator met them when they walked into the rabbit barn and said that Mary's rabbit was sick. It was in convulsions and they were afraid it was diseased and the other rabbits would get ill. My husband said, "Oh it must have licked the hairspray off."

No one could believe that the rabbit was groomed with hairspray. They brought the poor rabbit home and it died. For years, the rabbit coordinator warned other 4-Hers to not groom their rabbits with hairspray.

The next year, Mary showed vegetables and flowers. That year didn't fare much better, as her 4-year-old sister Molly ate all 10 of her perfect

green beans Mary had picked for her exhibit in the car on the way to the

fair.

I explained to the judge what had happened and she smiled and said we must have a good garden and Molly looked very healthy, but she couldn't judge Mary on something that was already eaten.

I guess you can see why we never won any blue ribbons.

Sheila Donnelly can be reached at 434-2233 or by e-mail at newsroom@austindailyherald.com