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MANVILLE: Borough is represented at 4-H Fair

By Mary Ellen Day, Special Writer
   The 65th annual Somerset County 4-H Fair was held last Wednesday through Friday. Even with the hot temperatures and torrential rains, the 65th event brought many to North Branch Park in Bridgewater.
   Manville was represented with people showing animals, describing services and presenting displays.
   Residents Bruce Hixson, Heather Armstrong, Sherri Lynn and Cindy Britt were some who manned the Somerset County displays in the county tent.
   Ms. Britt volunteered for her shift at the Somerset County Youth Services booth, while Ms. Armstrong was seen helping with the photos of the children. Manville School District Business Administrator Kim Clelland and her son, James, brought their three dogs to show, and Carol Kronemaier sat with Weichert Realty.
   Lorraine Zdeb said she has been supporting the 4H fair as a vendor for about 20 years with her Manville-based Love Your Pet business. In the commercial tent, Ms. Zdeb took home the Fair Manager’s Ribbon for the best display.
   ”This award is the fifth or sixth award that I have gotten for best inside commercial booth,” she said. “When I win a ribbon, I feel honored, because I know how much work and pride goes into winning one. There is a deep respect that I have for the award, which makes me work harder each year. When other people enjoy what you have worked so hard to accomplish, it becomes magic.”
   ”It makes all the hard work, the sweating in the tent, the bug bites, the heat rashes, the long hours, the great food and the extra pounds, the flooding rain that surrounds my spot every year, and the mud worth the effort to get the message across that adopting animals, real or stuffed, is so rewarding for all of us. When I am awarded a ribbon for my display, I feel the pride in knowing that perhaps that message has touched someone else’s heart,” she said.
   At the fair Ms. Zdeb says she likes to teach responsible pet ownership by using stuffed animals.
   ”It all started about 5 years ago when I wanted to see just how much people really loved their animals,” she said. “So if they came to our booth and showed us a photo of their pet, they would win a prize. The prize would be to adopt a stuffed animal and give it a good home; they could pick the animal they wanted, as in real life.
   ”Before cell phones came out with the photos, people would either bring me their real pets, or a photo of their pet that they had in their wallets. Now it is really cute to have so many people showing photos of their pets on their cell phones.
   ”As the years passed, we kind of became the dropoff adoption center for stuffed animals and would find almost all of the animals that we given to us a home to go to where someone loved them, just like in real life. I love watching how people take their time in picking just the right one! I had to rent a cargo van to haul all the stuffed animals that I took to the fair this time, as this was one of our largest exhibits,” she laughed.
   Ms. Zdeb said being a part of the 4H for so long “feels like coming home to family. I enjoy seeing all the children grow up and getting all the updates on how everyone is doing with their animals.”
   Ms. Zdeb couldn’t have completed her display without Help.
   ”Even though we had pouring rain and our booth flooded, we were supplied with 10 straw bales by Hillsborough Farm Country Market, which not only helped to decorate the booth but helped to keep the mud and water from rising in the tent. The displaytook about four hours to set up, trying to avoid the leaks we had last year in the same space.”
   She had a staff to help, including Alyssa Gibel from Somerville, Lillian Viscione from Raritan, Diane Bacorn from Manville, and Alyssa Chervinsky and Destynee Vegliante, both from Hillsborough. Eddy Zdeb and Dana Barker from Plainfield both helped with Alyssa Gibel in breaking down our setup.
   ”I wanted to add a little flair this year so I called Susan Loring from Bridgewater who heads up The Piano and Voice Conservatory of New Jersey, and asked her if she knew any fiddle players. Lucky for us Kira and Stephen Horiuchi from Branchburg showed up and gave the display a special touch.”