Barton County 4-H members were honored for their accomplishments at the 82nd annual 4-H Achievement Celebration. Kayleigh Bitter, 4-H Council President and Morgan Kaiser, Council Vice President served as the emcees.
The Kansas 4-H Key Award is the most prestigious award that a 4-H member can earn. Candidates must have exhibited outstanding contributions in leadership, citizenship, community service. The recipient of the 2016 Key Awards was Kirk Reisner. The Key awards are sponsored by the Farm Credit Associations of Kansas.
Cloverbud 4-H members receiving certificates were, Meredith Mazouch, Levi McCormick, MaKayla Suppes and Emma Snapp (BB); Anna Prescott (EE); Avery Riese, Kiera Wyant and DJ Wyant (EH); Alana Grillot, Adessa Prosser, Jamie Stos (HJ); Omar Razo (SBJW) Cloverbud members are 5 and 6 year olds by January 1 and are eligible for 4-H membership when they are seven years old by January 1 of the current 4-H year.
All 4-H members have the opportunity each year to work towards earning an achievement pin. The series of nine achievement pins requires more involvement and work each year. Those receiving first year membership pins were Madison Gaddis and Kylee Miessler (BB); Savanna Richmeier (BCHT); Jace Riese, Victoria Riese, Peyton Schneider and Melody Braddy (HJ); Calyn Baker and Benjamin Wutka (TLC).
Bronze Pin recipients were: Dylan Ferguson, Sierra Ferguson, Kirsten Miessler and Dinah Newman (BB); Tate Martin and Cayman Rowan (EE); Nicole Rziha (GBCS); Noah Deines (HJ); Elsa Lopez, (SBJW) and Zachary Goodenough and Nathaniel Wutka (TLC).
Clover Pin recipients were: Parker Dicks and Haley McCormick (BB); Caden Rowan (EE), Melissa Gutierrez, Deklin Marsh, Dominic Marsh, Liberty Marsh, Jason Villarreal (SBJW).
Emerald Pin winners were: Augustus and Woodson Corbett, (EE); Hailey Hicks (GBCS), Ivan Gutierrez Chelsea Villarreal (SBJW) and Gabby Reif (HJ).
Silver Pin winners were: Bryce Oliphant (EE), Alaina Straub (EE) and Mallory Reif (HJ).
Silver Guard recipients were: Ryan Niles (EE); Kyle Rziha (GBCS); Paige Koehn (SS).
Leadership Pin recipients were: Dalton Dicks (BB); Molly Kaiser and Morgan Kaiser (TLC).
Gold Pin winners were: BrayLynn Anshutz and Payton Mauler (BB).
The Gold Guard winners were BreAnn Anshutz (BB); Katherine Hicks (SBJW).
Those who applied for and received the yearly membership pin were Kylie McCormick (BB); Caylee Rowan, Betsy Snell, Alexa Straub and Luke Wondra (EE); Kayleigh Bitter and Brinttain Noah (HJ); Mathew Hicks (SBJW).
Barton County Project Award Winners are determined by their work in the project. The youth report goals and then share they have accomplished in their project, leadership and citizenship work in the Kansas Award Portfolio (KAP) application. The Barton County senior project winner in Beef was Luke Wondra (EE). Dalton Dicks (BB) was named junior champion and Sierra Ferguson was honorable mention. In the Bucket Calf project, Dylan Ferguson (BB) was champion and Sierra Ferguson was named honorable mention.
In Clothing & Textiles the senior project winner was BreAnn Anshutz (BB) was the senior champion and BrayLynn Anshutz was alternate senior. In the junior division, Gabby Rief was named champion.
The Dog Care & Training project winner was Noah Deines, Hoisington Jets. Dairy Goat project winner was Mathew Hicks.
Fiber Arts Project Champion was Alexa Straub from the Ellinwood Energizers. The Foods & Nutrition project winner was Ryan Niles (EE) and honorable mention was BrayLynn Anshutz. Junior champion was Mathew Hicks and alternate was Sierra Ferguson.
The Horse project winner was Savanna Richmeier from the Barton County Horse Team. The Leadership project award was given to Katherine Hicks. In Meat Goats, Dylan Ferguson was named champion and Sierra Ferguson was named honorable mention.
The senior Photography project champion was Ryan Niles. In the junior division, Gus Corbett was champion and Sierra Ferguson was honorable mention. In Plant Science, Payton Mauler was named senior champion. Rabbit project senior award went to Katherine Hicks and junior award was given to Alaina Straub with Mathew Hicks as alternate.
Dalton Dicks was named Self-determined project winner with Dylan Ferguson receiving honorable mention. Shooting Sports project winner and the Space Tech champion was Dalton Dicks.
The Swine project winner in the senior division was Luke Wondra with Dylan Ferguson named as junior champion. Visual Arts project winner was Dalton Dicks and Woodson Corbett was alternate. Wood Science project winner was Augustus Corbett and Woodson Corbett was junior alternate. Alexa Straub had the top secretary book and BreAnn Anshutz was runner-up.
Farm Bureau supports leadership activities for young people and this year they provided recognition for those who served as 2016 4-H camp counselors at Rock Springs Ranch. Fourth year counselors were Mikey Hughes, Heather Schneider and Kayleigh Bitter. Brinttain Noah was honored as a third year counselor and Alivia Bautista was a first year counselor.
The judging teams who represented Barton County at state judging contests were recognized. Senior photography team members were Thomas Harmon, Luke Wondra and Ryan Niles. Intermediate team members were Rebekah Harmon, Paige Koehn, Hailey Hicks and Alexa Straub.
Poultry judging team members were Dathan and Liam Proffitt; Liberty, Dominic and Deklin Marsh and Steele Brack. Dathan Proffitt was fifth high individual in the junior division at the Kansas State Fair.
The state Family and Consumer Science judging team members were Grace Hoskins and Alexa Straub.
4-H Council perfect attendance awards were presented to: Dalton and Hayley Dicks form Busy Buzzers; Dathan and Brandy Proffitt from Eureka Homesteaders; Carrie Bitter from Hoisington Jets; Liberty and Liston Marsh from South Bend Jolly Workers; Kathy McGinnis from The Sharpshooters and Leonard Kaiser from TLC Twisters.
The “I Dare You” award was presented to BreAnn Anshutz from the Busy Buzzers and Katelyn Reh.
Berny Unruh is the 4-H and Youth Development Extension agent in Barton County. She is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune. She can be reached at 620-793-1910 or at bunruh@ksu.edu