Heat hurt fair garden project entries

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) - While the final weekend of the Allen County Fair had good weather, the summer's drought and unusually hot temperatures caused some complications for some 4-H participants.

"The garden project, I wasn't able to bring anything because none of my vegetables grew because of the heat," Forrest Bonin, a 4-H Top Achiever for 2012, said.

Bonin's in his ninth year with 4-H. He said watering wasn't enough for his corn, tomatoes and squash to beat the record heat.

"I had sprinklers and they grew a little. We'll have vegetables in a couple of weeks, but not for the fair," he said. "The garden project area is really down this year. Some of my friends did have vegetables, but nothing like we usually do."

The heat also created more work taking care of the animals. Ashely Lewis, the other 4-H Top Achiever for 2012, is in her tenth year with 4-H. This year she showed several animals including hogs and cattle.

"We spent a lot of time in the barn these past few months dealing with the heat," Lewis said. "There are a lot of fans. ... We get up early every morning and walk so it's cooler, rinse at noon and again in the evening to keep the animals cool."

Those extra baths didn't stop when the animals made it to the fairgrounds.

"Rinse multiple times a day. If you walk by the cattle or hog barn, I'm sure you'll see animals being washed all the time," Lewis said.

The fair ended Sunday evening. Monday the exhibits will be taken down and a livestock auction starts at 12:30 p.m.