Teen bound for State Fair with coffee table

MARENGO — Madison Ness, of Williamsburg, has a table going to the Iowa State Fair.

“When I found out that it went to State Fair, I was really happy,” said Ness. She’s shown projects for four years.

The Ness family will be going to the State Fair in August. “I really wanted to see one of my projects there,” Ness said.

When Ness contemplated a 4-H woodworking project, she thought the family needed a place to put cups and to lay their cellphones while charging them. She saw a photo of a table on her mom’s phone.

“I thought it was a really cool idea for a table,” she said.

Ness used a branch from one of the walnut trees in her yard to make “cookies” for the table top. The branch was too high for Ness, so her father, Brent, cut it for her, she said.

Ness used a chop saw and hand saw to cut the branch into cookies. She set the cookies in a rectangular mold and filled it with bronze epoxy.

Ness said she chose the bronze because it would match the cookies without obscuring them. It took 180 ounces of epoxy to fill up the mold.

Ness finished the table with metal legs. The table was chosen by the judges to advance to the Iowa State Fair.

“This was my third year in woodworking for 4-H,” said Ness. She also showed a couple of photos and received a blue ribbon for her tessellation during the 2024 Iowa County Fair.

The 13-year-old will be in eighth grade in the fall. She’s a member of the Hilton Happy Hustlers 4-H Club.