Rabbits take center stage at Whiteside County 4-H Fair

MORRISON – Potato was pretty fussy as she waited for judging to start in her category at the Whiteside County 4-H Fair on Friday.

First, she squirmed around in her cage. Then, she stepped on her food dish. But the coupe de grâce was two quick kicks to her water dish and then joyfully jumping into all the mess.

That was when Tinsley Downie, 10, of Rock Falls, put Potato – a little brown lop-eared rabbit – into an official time out. Tinsley promptly put Potato back into the soft-sided carrier in which she arrived until her conduct improved.

“She’s not my rabbit, she is my brother’s,” an indignant Tinsley said as she asked her mom for a wet wipe to clean Potato’s very messy feet.

Tinsley’s brother, Cole, 7, is a Cloverbud and too young to officially show his rabbit at the fair. So Tinsley, with Cole by her side, carried the recently cleaned Potato up to the judging area when it was her time to “show.”

Judge Harry Ringler examined each entry and then explained to each 4-H’er how he reached his decision as family and friends of the entrants watched from lawn chairs in the rabbit barn at the Whiteside County Fairgrounds on a hot and humid day.

Earlier in the day, shows were held for horses, ponies, poultry and cats.

Saturday’s schedule included project judging in a wide variety of categories, table activities, a bake sale, a silent auction and an ice cream social. Larger livestock will be shown in conjunction with the Carroll County 4-H Fair in Milledgeville from Aug. 5 to 8.