Fashionista Chloe finds fame in Orlando, Fla.

Published 9:45 pm Thursday, June 10, 2010

Barb Hawkinson, who grew up in Arlington and lives in Orlando, Fla., has a famous bunny named Chloe.

Hawkinson got Chloe when the kit was 7 weeks old and had only been away from her mom for a day.

“She was so tiny she fit in the palm of my hand,” Hawkinson says. “She is now 4 and spoiled, a tiny bit rotten and the joy of our lives.”

The hopper has full run of the living room when folks are home, is litter box-trained and is a very good bunny.

“I must say the first year we had her was a lot of work training her and making sure she didn’t get into anything that could hurt her. Baby bunnies are very much like baby children. You have to watch them every second. Life with her is so much easier now that she has mellowed with age.”

Hawkinson says she likes to dress up Chloe and take pictures. She makes her own greeting cards and uses the pictures out front.

“She’s not really a fan of the photo shoots but we get things ready, dress her quick and one of us keeps her where she needs to be while the other snaps the pictures. It’s all done very quickly and she is rewarded with one of her favorite treats. Believe it or not, her all-time favorite is a tiny bite of banana.”

Last summer, two pictures of Chloe were entered in the Pensacola Interstate Fair. The entries won a blue and red ribbon. Hawkinson submitted bunny pictures that were published in “Woman’s World” magazine.

Hawkinson grew up on 40 acres outside of Arlington on what was then called Swede Hill.

“It was fun growing up in the country and all of us who lived in the area have remained close friends over the years.”

She has lived around the country and tries to visit these parts each summer. Thanks to Facebook she is in touch with folks she knew 30 years ago.

She met Cindy Fillius nine years ago and they moved to Florida. They live in Orlando with Chloe and cats Gizmo and Casey just five miles from Disney World.

“Chloe is one of the highlights of our lives and has brought us so much joy and lots of laughs,” Hawkinson says. “She is always up to something and really thinks she is something since we’ve told her she is a star.”

u u u

Some needy children in the Arlington, Darrington and Lakewood school district will receive socks and underwear to wear to school, thanks to a successful day.

Arlington Kids’ Kloset offered a garage sale Saturday in Arlington.

There were plenty of competing activities in town that day, said co-director Linda Dussault.

“We raised $169 in sales and received $24 in donations,” Dussault says. “We feel, though, that we were able to educate a lot of folks about what we do and how we do it. That’s always good.”

She says they are looking forward to another year of helping clothe kids.

Its annual fundraiser, A Taste of Washington, is scheduled for Aug. 28.

“We are hoping for a good turnout.”

We’ll let readers know about the August event. Kids shouldn’t have to go to school with holes in their socks.

u u u

Weather was wet and some eyes were teary as more than 150 folks honored veterans at a Memorial Day service, says Judith Gorman with the Veterans Resource Center in Langley.

Twelve people shared poems and letters about war and the human experience from the 1850s to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We help veterans and their families by helping carry the burden of war,” she says. “Deep listening to veteran’s experiences is so important,” says Gorman.

Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.