“I like the home environment 4-H project, because I can combine creativity and usefulness,” said Elijah Fairbank, Beaver Dam, Wis.

Fairbank is a member of the Leipsic 4-H Club and has exhibited at the Beaver Dam-based Dodge County Fair for a few years. “Last year, my home-environment entry was a V6-engine coffee table with a glass table top,” said Fairbank. “I like being creative with engine parts, because you can easily find them at a junk yard, and they’re cheap.”

If you walk to the back of the youth building at this year’s Dodge County Fair, you’ll see Eli’s newest work of art. “I made a touch lamp using the water pump that came with last year’s V6 engine as the base and the original valve cover from my Dad’s truck as the lamp shade.”

Some parts for the lamp were purchased new. “The touch-lamp part is made from a regular lamp kit and touch-lamp control box I bought online — the control box is where the magic happens,” said Fairbank. “After the lamp is plugged in, you wait for the juice to run through it for a few seconds, and then the touch feature will work. You can touch anywhere that’s metal.”

Some people live for “the hunt” part of projects like this, but Fairbank prefers a different aspect. “My favorite part was assembling it, because I had to drill holes to run wires. I worked for several weeks to get the parts, but assembling it only took a few hours.”

This year’s fair is still in progress, but Fairbank is already thinking about next year. “I’ve recently started building my own truck, not from the ground up, but pretty close. I may enter that in the fair when it’s finished, if they allow the bigger size of something like that. We’ll see how it goes.”

Fairbank does have his touch lamp for sale, if someone is interested; otherwise, he’ll just take it home and use it in his bedroom. You can see the lamp and other fair entries at the Dodge County Fair through Aug. 21. Learn more about fair activities at www.dodgecountyfairgrounds.com.

Written by Dori Lichty — farm wife, 4-H Mom, and full-time communicator