Fair Success Comes At Right Time For Vraspir Family

Fair success couldn’t come at better time for Vraspir family.

Hannah Vraspir loves fair week, but she admittedly wasn’t very excited about the Antelope County Fair this year.

It’s been a rough last few weeks for the Allen and Lisa Vraspir family thanks to a watercraft accident that sent Allen to the hospital via Life Net. With serious injuries, fair projects were a low priority for the family.

And they certainly weren’t expecting Hannah to finish with more than a half dozen champion and reserve champion ribbons, including champion with the most creative wood pallet project.

“I don’t think any of us expected anything like this during this fair,” her mother, Lisa, said.

She added, “We were all exhausted and had no real expectations of how things would go. I’m just so proud of her. With everything she’s been through with the accident and having to be gone, the fair has just been great for her. It’s given her something else to focus on, and that really has helped our family.”

The pallet project was new this year and gave 4-Hers an opportunity to use their creativity to upcycle old pallets. Hannah turned hers into a child’s mud kitchen, which even has a sink that can be hooked up to water.

“My dad had an old sink, and the faucet does work,” Hannah said. “You can actually hook this up and having running water.”

Hannah said she plans to give the kitchen to her cousins, who are are 5 and 2. She said they’ll  have fun connecting water to the faucets and making mud pies and sand cakes.

Making the project even more special was that Hannah worked with her dad on it. They finished the project June 24, about three weeks before his accident.

“I was having a hard time figuring out what to,” she said. “I wanted to do something no one had done before. I found this on the Internet, and it looked like something kids would like to play with. And it was fun working my dad.”

Lisa said Hannah and Allen work well together. They decided on the project and picked out the additional supplies together.

“They’re very similar with their approach to things,” she said. “Hannah and Allen picked out what to, then went to Hobby Lobby together and everything. It was really amazing to watch them work together with these projects.”

Hannah said her favorite aspect of the project is the chalk board, but the faucet is a close second. Lisa complimented the extension office for the idea with the pallet project.

“I’m so proud of her. It’s a really neat idea, and having them use all recycled material was great, too,” she said. “This is great for younger generations to learn that you can do so much with old materials.”

Lisa added that this project was a great way for parents to be involved with their children and 4-H. It was also a great learning experience for Hannah as she begins summer job searching in the coming years.

“I encourage parents to get more involved with 4H. It’s not just about the time and effort you put into it. It’s the process an skills learned,” she said. “Like with quilting, how many people can do that anymore? She’s learning those skills, along with skills she needs for the employment world because there are interviews with the judges. She has to justify why she did things, and those are great skills to learn.”

Hannah said although it’s been a crazy summer for her, she’s already excited about the 2018 fair.