Showing Rabbits
The fifth grader at Greenwood Christian Academy reached into the rabbit cage and started petting the brown, white and tan animal. She gently rolled a water bottled filled with ice against the rabbit’s body.
Talitha Trotter is showing S’more, her Holland Lop rabbit, at the Johnson County Fair this year and during the first few days at the fair, getting S’more used to the weather and crowds was her priority.
Temperatures are expected to climb into the 90s and Trotter did what she could to keep S’more cool and used to the crowds, she said.
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Water bottles filled with ice will be stuffed into S’more’s cage this week and Trotter expects to check on him to make sure he stays calm, she said.
S’more joined dozens of other rabbits that will be shown this week, as smaller animals that are not livestock allow 4-H’ers who do not have access to larger livestock a chance to show animals too.
"I thought it was really fun," Trotter said.
A convenient snack
Dozens of 4-H’ers will be trotting in and out of the indoor arena this week showing their steer, hogs and goats.
When they need a bottle of water or a quick snack between shows, a group of fellow 4-H’ers is there for them.
The 4-H Junior Leaders have had a concession stand in the Indoor Arena at the Johnson County Fairgrounds since the mid-70s when junior leaders sold water bottles off a table in the arena, Jeff Beaman, 4-H Junior Leader adviser said.
Now they have a concession stand that sells cookies, water, soda and other snacks built on the southeast side of the arena and 4-H’ers have come to rely on the quick convenience the concession stand offers, Beaman said.
"They don’t have to run over all over the fairgrounds for snacks and drinks," he said.
The concession stand is the closest access to refreshments 4-H’ers have, he said.
"It’s a need and community service is one of our goals," Beaman said.
And the stand is a major fundraiser for the group of 4-H’ers in middle school and high school, earning them thousands of dollars that will be used for scholarships and other activities, he said.Â
"It’s important, it is kind of a niche," Beaman said. "Everyone expects us to be here, they look for us."
Read, Taste, Touch
About 20 young children crowded around the goat pen, clamoring to touch one of the two goats.
The youngsters, aged 4 to 7, spent the first weekday morning of the fair reading a book that featured animals, decorating a shirt with goats and trying beef stew, while learning about the nutritional aspects of the food.
Read, Taste, Touch, a Purdue Extension program, will be at the fair this week. The program is aimed at teaching children about nutrition, health and animals and has happened at the fair annually for years.
"We want to start exposing kids to agriculture at a younger age," said Danielle Dennis, Purdue Health Extension Educator.
Students registered in advance and can attend every day. Each day will include a story, craft, snack and interaction with an animal.
The program is meant to reach a population that might not have access to see animals up close and personal, Dennis said.
Part of the mission of the extension educators is education, which means offering programs that are free or affordable for residents of the county, she said.
"It is trying to show them that there are opportunities out there," Dennis said.
