Events at the 156th Annual Clearfield County Fair included a visit from a top state official.
Early Monday, it was all about the animals, as many eagerly awaited to hear if they won first place in their respective categories.
On day two at the Clearfield County Fair, one of the big events going on was rabbit judging.
“Some are winning and some aren’t,” says Rayana Lichvarcik, 10.
Dozens of the rabbits examined by a judge are from the Lichvarcik family.
“My mom was talking about when she was younger, she raised 75 rabbits, and so we started getting into rabbits again,” says Rayana.
“We had some goats and it’s a lot harder for us to be able to load them up in a trailer and haul them to a show. The rabbits are smaller, able to just put them in the car and take off,” says Jen Lichvarcik from Rockton.
Jen teams up with her three daughters, inlcuding Alexis, who showed us a rare blanc de hotot, a large snow-white rabbit with a black patch around the eye.
“You get to see them really open up. They get to meet different kids from different areas of the United States when you go to the different shows,” says Jen.
“We can only bring a max of 80, but right now, we’re pushing 200 at our house,” says Rayana.
It can take an hour just to feed them their pellets, Jen said.
“We choose when we need to breed the rabbits so that they have the age appropriate for the shows,” says Jen.
Organizers say the fair has about 200 vendors, with a budget topping $600,000.
On the stage, the owner of Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub got a surprise award.
“This is a great bunch of people. They dedicate their time, year in and year out over here. I’m just glad to be a part of it,” says Friend of the Fair winner Dennis Leigey, who’s been a sponsor for several years.
State agriculture secretary Russell Redding was here to present Leigey’s award.
“With 109 fairs in Pennsylvania, I look at them as all these little sort of patches in a quilt. You look at them all together and you get this beautiful quilt of Pennsylvania,” says Redding.
Tuesday was the Kids’ Day which meant everyone got in free before 11 a.m. and a Smurfs show was to be held at 10 a.m., manager Greg Hallstrom said.
The fair runs through Saturday night and the general admission to the fair is $8.
