Barton County 4-H members placed with high ratings at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. In order to advance to the state fair, 4-H members must qualify at the county fair or in some cases in a district contest. In some contests only one member is allowed to represent Barton County and in some divisions all qualifying exhibits are allowed to enter.
In the State 4-H Fashion Revue, Elizabeth Mayhill placed second overall and was named overall Reserve Grand Champion Fashion Revue winner out of over 80 in the competition. Morgan Kaiser received a blue ribbon placing in the buymanship division and BrayLynn Anshutz placed with a blue ribbon in the construction division of the State Fashion Revue.
The Kansas 4-H/FFA Wheat Variety Plot contest is designed to teach grain science and agriculture as a business. The first place prize is a $250 award from the Kansas Wheat Commission. BreAnn and BrayLynn Anshutz have worked several years on this project and this year they were awarded a purple ribbon and placed first in the state.
In the State Poultry Judging Contest, the intermediate team placed 4th in the state. Team member Dathan Proffitt placed 5th as an individual and the other team members were Deklin Marsh and Liam Proffitt. Competing in the senior division were Steele Brack and Liberty and Dominic Marsh. The senior team placed 6th.
The Barton County Intermediate Photography Judging team placed 4th in the state. Alexa Straub was the 4th place individual. Additional team members were Rebekah Harmon, Paige Koehn and Hailey Hicks. Thomas Harmon, Ryan Niles and Luke Wondra judged in the senior division. The senior team placed 20th.
Alexa Straub and Grace Hoskins were the Barton County representatives for the Family and Consumer Sciences judging contest. They placed 8th in the state. Emma Mayhill presented a demonstration on Geo-caching and placed with a red ribbon rating.
In Clothing and Textiles, the purple ribbon winners were Alexa Straub, BreAnn Anshutz and Clarise Snapp. Haley McCormick received a red rating.
The Fiber Arts department combines crocheting, knitting, quilting, weaving, needle arts, and ethnic arts. Alaina Straub received a blue ribbon on her knitting project. Lillian Hoskins received a blue ribbon on her cross stitched picture. Parker Smith and Alexa Straub both received a white rating on their crocheted items.
In the foods project Kirsten Miessler received a purple on her cookies and Lillian Hoskins received a purple on her pumpkin bars. Grace Hoskins and Kylie McCormick placed with a red ribbon rating on their food products.
The top honor in the photography division went to Paige Koehn whose photograph was chosen to be displayed at Rock Springs Ranch 4-H Center for the year. Members receiving purple ribbons were Sage Martinz, Kayleigh Bitter and Alaina Straub. Members receiving blue ribbon ratings were Peyton Schneider, Deklin Marsh, Gus Corbett, BreAnn Anshutz, Cody Wondra, Molly Kaiser, Sarah Hammeke, Payton Mauler, Ryan Niles, Katelyn Reh, Dominic Marsh, Clarise Snapp, and Ailey Williams. Kayleigh Bitter, Erin Hammeke, Parker Smith and Luke Wondra received red ratings and Jace Riese received a white.
Arts and Crafts exhibits are only displayed and not judged at the State Fair and each county is limited to a number of exhibits based on the county’s project enrollment. Barton County exhibitors were Noah Deines, Morgan Kaiser and Alaina Straub. Projects created by Kayleigh Bitter, Hayleigh Martin and Alexa Straub were selected to be on display at Rock Springs Ranch 4-H Center during this next year.
Noah Deines and Dalton Dicks received blues on their Spacetech rocketry exhibit and Landon Woydziak received a red on his woodworking exhibit.
In the Horticulture division, Grace Hoskins received blues on her onions and potatoes.
In the junior division of Dog Showmanship, Noah Deines received a purple. In the intermediate age group, Jesseca Hames and Isabelle Mayers received purples. Katelyn Reh received purple in senior showmanship and Chris Reed received a blue.
Rebekah Harmon qualified at District Horse Show and participated in the State 4-H Horse Show. Rebekah made it to the finals in showmanship and also participated in English Pleasure, Western Pleasure, Horsemanship and Trail. In the 3-year old project Thomas Harmon placed 4th.
Katie, Mattie and Justyn Shafer and Steele Brack were participants in the 4-H/FFA State Livestock Show. Steele placed 5th and 8th with her market lambs. She showed 4th and 6th place market goats. Mattie Shafer had a 1st place goat and a 3rd and 6th place sheep. Katie Shafer showed a 6th place goat, a 5th place steer and a 9th place sheep. Justyn placed 8th in his heifer class. All members participated in showmanship.
In the 4-H Dairy Goat show, Mathew Hicks exhibited the Grand Champion recorded grade senior doe. He also received five blue ratings and a red in showmanship. Katherine Hicks received three blue ribbons, three red ribbons and a red in showmanship
At the state 4-H rabbit show Katherine Hicks received a blue in showmanship and a red in rabbit judging. She received a blue and a red on her rabbits. Mathew Hicks exhibited a purple ribbon rabbit and also received a white.
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