PLAN:

Decide what you want to do at your Rabbit Day. Consider including several speakers and demonstrations,
on topics such as what the judge looks for in the competition, what type of questions are asked, how to prepare for fitting and showing, and how to fit and show a rabbit.

Decide who will speak or give demonstrations. Make sure to have a second for each, in case the first choice can't make it.

Plan how you want to run the Rabbit Day, organize a schedule. Set up a start time, a time for each speaker, and time to practice fitting and showing, as well as anything else you have planned to do.

Consider having snacks table fundraiser. Another group's rabbit day, had a table with raffle of a 25 cents per ticket with several things to choose from, some that were rabbit related and a few others that had been donated. If you plan to do a type of fundraiser like this, decide what you want to do and how to do it now. You'll need to figure out what to sell, and how to get what you are going to sell. Get some volunteer people to run this part of the event.

Have a volunteer to take photos. If you do this for a 4-H project, you can use the photos later for your fair exhibit.

Decide whether or not you want the participants to sign-in when they arrive at the event. I did so that I could see how many participated and what counties they came from, as well as what age groups came, for help in preparing for any other Rabbit Days. If you do this, have another volunteer to sit in a designated area and make sure that all the participants sign in.

Decide how you want to advertise for the Rabbit Day. Options include: 4-H newsletters, club e-mail, flyers, posters, etc.

You'll need to get several volunteer judges. It's best to have older rabbit members, or rabbit leaders for this, but if you can't manage this, you might want to give a question + answer sheet to your judges, especially if they don't know rabbits that well. You can make your own, or click here to get one of mine.

Have evaluation sheets that the judges fill out for each participant. This allows the members to know what to work on before their fair competition. You can make your own, or click here to order some of mine.

Find out what equipment you'll need. You are going to need rugs to place on your tables. Once you find a location, you may also need to find tables, chairs, benches, garbage cans, lights, or even a tent.

SET A DATE:

It seems to work best to hold the workshop in about April or May. This makes sure that most of the members are signed up for 4-H. Also, it is not too close to most fairs, so that the members can practice after the rabbit day.

Contact your local 4-H Office. Check to make sure that the date is not being used for another major 4-H event,
so that you are not competing for member attendance.

Consider inviting several, neighbouring counties to particpate in the 4-H Day. If you want to do this, you'll need to find out how to contact each county's 4-H office, and let them know about the event. You might even want to check with each county to make sure that they don't have another 4-H event planned for that day as well.

Pick several dates, in case the location is unavailable on one of them.

FIND A LOCATION:

Check with your 4-H Office and get some recommendations. We used a barn at our local fairgrounds. We had to fill out a form through the 4-H office in order to rent it free of charge, since we were a non-profit community group. Depending on the weather, you could possibly have it outside under a large tent or canopy.

When you find a location, you'll also need to find out if you'll need to bring tables, chairs, garbage cans, etc. If you do, you'll either need to make sure you have enough, or find someone who'll loan some to you for a day.

SET UP HELP:

Contact the people you want to give talks or demonstrations. Make sure that you have people commited to do these and that they understand when, where, and what they will be doing.

Contact your volunteer help for the judges, photography, sign-in, and fundraiser if you are doing this. It is possible to have some of those who are giving presentations to do the judging as well. I recommend having at least several members of your club, if not your whole club involved in this. If you are having a fundraiser table, this would be a great club opportunity. Make sure each individual you ask has a job and that they know when, where and what they will be doing. Make sure you have enough commitments so that you don't end up trying to juggle it all yourself.

ADVERTISE:

Get an ad in all the county 4-H newsletters at least one month, if not two prior to the date.
Start handing out flyers a month in advance. Give a bunch to at least your 4-H office so they can give them out at events or from the office.
E-mail or call your club members at least two weeks in advance.
Put posters in animal feed stores, pet stores, or even the grocery store.

Tell what you'll be demonstrating, what the members get to do, what they need to bring - i.e. a rabbit if possible, when the event is taking place, and where it is going to be. Also include contact information, ie. your name and phone number.

I recommend having people call to tell you they are coming. This will give you an idea of how many will be there so you can set up, and so if only two people are coming you can cancel or reschedule if necessary. When they do call, get full names and phone numbers in case of an emergency.

PREPARE:

You may need signs to guide the participants from where they park to where the event is taking place. If so, get these made. They are easily done on your computer or by hand. Use bright paper with large, readable black letters and arrows.

Make sure that you have enough tables to do several groups of showman at once, as well as a table to store rabbit carriers on. If you're doing the fundraiser, you'll probably want one or two for that as well.

Make sure you have enough seating available for parents, siblings, or members who are not showing at the moment. Our fairgrounds provided bleachers and a few chairs. You could also use benches.

You need enough rugs to cover the fitting and showing tables. A local flooring store allowed us to raid their dumpsters for large carpet scraps. Call before doing this!

If you are doing this outside, you may want a large canopy.

You'll want to get one or two large trash cans with sacks to have out for use.

Make sure you have plenty of question and answer sheets, evaluation sheets, and pencils. It wouldn't hurt to have clipboards for all your judges to use as well.

You may want a tablecloth for your fundraising table, signs for your fundraising table, and a little cash with which to make change.

SET UP:

RABBIT DAY

You and your volunteer help should arrive about 30 minutes earlier than the schedule start time to set up.

Get your directional signs up first, to prepare for any early birds.

Set up the tables, tent canopy, seating, fundraiser, etc.

Get prepared for any speechs, or demonstrations.

Have fun! Most members enjoy learning through this format, especially new members. It also helps take some of the nervousness out of the real thing for many kids, since they can feel like they have already done it! Good Luck!

Helpful Rabbit Day Links

Rabbit Question and Answer and Rabbit Showman Evaluation Sheets

State Links to find County contact information

Idaho County Contact Information