March 28, 2024

First time exhibitor earns Cat Show Grand Champion

COLFAX — Friday’s cat show was one of the first 4-H/FFA events to kick off the 2016 Jasper County Fair as the felines were judged for grooming, behavior and appearance.

Five cats were exhibited in the competition, but only one came out on top with the grand champion purple ribbon which was Gia — a bengal cat shown by 10-year-old Jacelyn Lind.

Lind, who is from Colfax, has had the 3-year-old cat its whole life and finds the feline’s everyday actions to be very unique from typical house cats and said the pet will even jump in the shower with someone.

“She’s very fascinated with water. Every morning she’ll yelp and yelp because she wants water,” Lind said. “She likes to get outside and she can jump real far. She can jump off a dresser to the top of my bunkbed. It’s crazy, but cool.”

In preparation for the cat show, Lind bathed and groomed her pet and prepared the litter box for travel. While being examined on the podium, Lind informed the judge about the cat’s qualities and received a blue ribbon presented by Jasper County Fair Queen Emily Miller. All five cats on Friday received blue ribbons.

In addition to the grand champion ribbon, the 10-year-old also received a purple ribbon for showmanship, which is judged on the exhibitor’s performance.

Lind walked away with plenty of hardware, but also with a new experience doing something she has never done before — showing an animal at the Jasper County Fair.

“For my first year showing ever this has been very fun,” Lind said.

Her mother, Jayme Lind, admits she was anxious for her oldest daughter and was unsure how the cat would react to the situation, but afterward said she was proud.

“I was a little nervous. I didn’t know if the cat would behave, but I’m proud of Jacelyn. She’s growing up and it’s been a lot of fun watching her get into showing animals,” Jayme said. “We come here every year and we always have a good time so we were excited to actually be a part of it this year.”

The soon-to-be fifth grader said she plans to show again next year, but has three cats to choose from at home and said she might give one of the other pets a chance in the next show.

Jacelyn’s experience in her first year of showing is not over, however, as she also showed her three goats at 2 p.m. Monday on Jasper County Fair’s Children’s Day.

Contact Alex Olp at aolp@newtondailynews.com