David Laughlin
Duncan was hopped up Friday and Saturday; in a good way. Rabbits ruled the weekend at the Stephens County Fair & Expo Center.
Show Superintendent Marie Gulledge said the Stephens County Fair & Expo Center housed more than 1,200 of the furry little creatures Friday and Saturday.
“We have people from all over the nation come to this show,” Gulledge said. “We even had a guy from Anchorage, Alaska who was here Friday night.”
Gulledge herself hails from Northwest Arkansas.
“We just love it here,” she said. “That’s why we come here year after year.”
The Stephens County Rabbit Breeders have had the show at the Stephens County Fair and Expo Center for more than 17 years.
“It’s not just a rabbit show,” Gulledge said. “The whole thing is just great fellowship, it’s a good excuse to get friends and family together.”
The group holds four shows a year at the Stephens County Fair & Expo Center. Gulledge said, “We keep coming back because the fairgrounds are just amazing.”
The show brings in a wide range of people. Young and old alike gather to participate and to spectate. In addition to a variety of people, Gulledge said the show brings in a diverse crowd of rabbits. She said, “We get a lot of rare breeds here that are almost forgotten.”
Gulledge said part of the allure of the show is because it is actually a triple show. Gulledge explained that participants get three opportunities to enter their furry friends into the competition. She said, “It is pretty rare to have a triple show, I only know of a few other shows in the United States that are triple shows.”
“I have been to shows all over the United States and you just don’t see trophies like the ones they are handing out here, anywhere,” Gulledge said.
“This is my second time in Duncan for the rabbit show,” Katheryn Fisher of Enid said. Fisher said she began raising rabbits with her daughter.
“We sure do enjoy it,” Fisher said. “It has been a great experience for us, I never had a rabbit until my children got theirs. I always tell them that my parents deprived me.”
— David Laughlin is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 144, or via e-mail at david.laughlin@duncanbanner.com.
