Giant dream shattered by vandals

A local girl is learning life's lessons through the Alaska State Fair -- science and agriculture with a little hard work and perseverance thrown in for good measure. Now, however, she's also trying to understand why someone would want to derail her dream.

Thirteen-year-old Lauren Guinotte is raising cabbages for the second year in a row, in hopes of winning a prize at the Alaska State Fair. Since last fall, she has studied how to better her chances by growing a larger cabbage, talked to farmers about their secrets and, this spring, started in on her garden. For days she dug the holes. For weeks she's tended to the cabbages at her West Arctic Drive home in Palmer.

Now, she just can't understand why vandals would rip up her underground watering system, killing the roots of her would-be fair entries. She can't comprehend why vandals would destroy red funnels that helped carry protein and water to the roots. She has a hard time understanding why, in the middle of the night, someone would rip off leaves of her cabbage.

"Last year my biggest cabbage was 27 pounds," she said. "This year, they were bigger. I haven't weighed them, but they are bigger than last year."

They'll only be entered if they can survive until the cabbage weigh-in date, Aug. 29, which isn't a sure thing. One of the three cabbages has already died, and another is on its way. Earlier this week, vandals ripped off the leaves of the one cabbage that appeared to have the best chance of making it.

"She was literally sick to her stomach yesterday when I had to tell her that they did it again," her mother, Noel Guinotte, said Thursday. "She was so sad. How do you explain it?"

Lauren is used to overcoming obstacles. She's deaf, but you'd never know it by the way she reads lips and talks. But overcoming obstacles made by inconsiderate people is a first for Lauren. Her 27-pound cabbage didn't win any prize money last year, but the proud 13-year-old is quick to point out that her cabbage limerick landed her a $10 bill at the fair last year.

"We did everything wrong last year," Noel said. "This year, we were doing everything right."

Lauren credits the success of this year's cabbages to the advice she has received from other farmers. She said Scott Robb and Robert Thom gave her pointers on how to make her cabbages huge. Other farmers have been just as supportive, stopping by her house to see the cabbages and offer tips.

"It's amazing how much support she's gotten from everyone," Noel said as a car drove by and honked and the driver waved. "Just like that. The cabbages are right out on the street and everybody knows she's raising them for the fair."

Lauren's grandmother made a sign for the garden that says they are fair entries. After hearing about the vandalism, a friend of the family dropped off another sign with a picture of someone praying, with a quote "bubble" that explains the cabbages are for the fair. The Guinottes are hoping it works.

"It takes a lot more work to grow big cabbages," Lauren explained. "I hope they leave them alone."