Barton County 4-H members were honored for their accomplishments at the 83rd annual 4-H Achievement Celebration. Molly Kaiser, 4-H Council Secretary and Drew Reisner, Council Treasurer served as the emcees. Hailey Hicks, Council Reporter led the Flag Salute and the 4-H Pledge.
The “I Dare You” award was presented to BrayLynn Anshutz and Dalton Dicks from the Busy Buzzers 4-H Club and to Sam McGinnis from The Sharpshooters club. Cloverbud 4-H members receiving certificates were Levi McCormick (BB); Christine Crutcher, Justin Glass, William Keffer, Anna Prescott, Aliza Straub (EE); Avery Riese, Kiera Wyant (EH); Amber Ochs (GBCS); Alana Grillot, Kholi Miller, Jamie Stos, Kaisha Woydziak (HJ); Abigail Lopez (SBJW). Cloverbud members are 5 and 6 year olds by Jan. 1 and are eligible for 4-H membership when they are seven years old by January 1 of the current 4-H year.
The 4-H Achievement Pin series is nine applications that require more involvement and work each year. Those receiving first year membership pins were: Dax Seibert and Mikayla Watts (BB), Blake Deines and Adessa Prosser (HJ); Christopher and Faith Schneweis-Trickey (SBJW).
Bronze Pin recipients: Madison Gaddis and Kylee Miessler (BB); Savanna Richmeier (BCHT); Analeah Ochs and Jordan Ochs (GBCS); Melody Braddy (HJ); Benjamin Wutka (TLC).
Clover Pin recipients: Dylan Ferguson, Sierra Ferguson, Kylie McCormick, Kirsten Miessler and Dinah Newman (BB); Shae Hoskins, Tate Martin and Cayman Rowan (EE); Nicole Rziha (GBCS); Landon Woydziak, Noah Deines (HJ); Elsasildai Lopez, (SBJW); Ailey Williams and Nathaniel Wutka (TLC).
Emerald Pin winners: Parker Dicks and Haley McCormick (BB); Lily Hoskins, Caden Rowan (EE); Melissa Gutierrez, Jason Villarreal (SBJW); Natalie Williams (TLC).
Silver Pin winners: Augustus and Woodson Corbett, Grace Hoskins (EE); Hailey Hicks (GBCS), Ivan Gutierrez, Chelsea Villarreal (SBJW)
Silver Guard recipients: Bryce Oliphant, Katelyn Reh, Alaina Straub (EE); Mathew Hicks (SBJW).
Leadership Pin recipients: Ryan Niles and Alexa Straub (EE); Kyle Rziha (GBCS); Paige Koehn (SS).
Gold Pin winners were: Dalton Dicks (BB); Luke Wondra (EE); Molly Kaiser (TLC).
The Gold Guard winners were BrayLynn Anshutz (BB); Kirk Reisner (HJ).
Caylee Rowan from Ellinwood Energizers 4-H Club earned a yearly membership pin.
Barton County Project Award Winners are determined by their work in the project. The youth are asked to set goals and then share they have accomplished in their project. The award is based on what was learned and the leadership and citizenship work that is recorded in the Kansas Award Portfolio (KAP) application.
The Barton County senior project winner in Beef was Dalton Dicks. Parker Dicks was named junior champion and Dylan Ferguson was honorable mention. In the Bucket Calf project, Sierra Ferguson was champion and Dylan Ferguson was named honorable mention.
In Clothing & Textiles the senior project winner was Alexa Straub and BrayLynn Anshutz was alternate senior. In the junior division, Madison Gaddis was named champion.
The Dog Care & Training project winner was Noah Deines, Hoisington Jets. Nicole Rziha was named honorable mention.
Fiber Arts Project Champion was Alexa Straub from the Ellinwood Energizers. Haley McCormick was named junior champion. The Foods & Nutrition project winner was BrayLynn Anshutz. Junior champion was Madison Gaddis and alternate was Bryce Oliphant.
The Horse project winner was Savanna Richmeier from the Barton County Horse Team. The Leadership project award was awarded to Grace Hoskins. In Meat Goats, Sierra Ferguson was named champion.
The senior Photography project champion was Ryan Niles. In the junior division, Madison Gaddis was champion and Sierra Ferguson was honorable mention. Rabbit project Champion was awarded to Alaina Straub. Lily Hoskins was named Reading Project champion.
Dylan Ferguson was named Self-determined project winner. Shooting Sports project winner was Dalton Dicks. Parker Dicks was junior champion and Gus Corbett was named honorable mention. In Space Tech, the senior champion was Dalton Dicks. Parker Dicks was junior champion and Landon Woydziak was named honorable mention
The Swine project winner in the senior division was Luke Wondra with Woodson Corbett as alternate. Madison Gaddis was named junior champion and Sierra Ferguson was honorable mention. Visual Arts project winner was Woodson Corbett. Wood Science project winner was Augustus Corbett. Dalton Dicks had the top secretary book with Savanna Richmeier as runner-up. Savanna Richmeier prepared the top treasurer book.
Farm Bureau supports leadership activities for young people and this year they provided recognition for those who served as 2017 4-H camp counselors at Rock Springs Ranch. Counselors serving from Barton County were Alexa Straub, Emma Mayhill, Aiden Noblitt, Paige Koehn and Katelyn Reh.
The judging teams who represented Barton County at state judging contests were recognized. Senior photography team members were Paige Koehn, Alexa Straub and Emma Mayhill. Intermediate team members were Hailey Hicks, Tate Martin, Alaina Straub and Natalie Williams.
The State Family and Consumer Science judging team members were Grace Hoskins and Lily Hoskins in the intermediate division. Alexa Straub and Paige Koehn completed the contest in the senior division.
Poultry judging team members were Dathan and Liam Proffitt. Dathan Proffitt was First place individual in the intermediate division at the Kansas State Fair. Dalton Dicks and Luke Wondra were honored for competing at the State Livestock Sweepstakes contest.
Nathan, Melissa, Landon and Kaisha Woydziak were honored for hosting Haruto, an exchange student with the Labo/Lex 4-H exchange program.
The Friends of 4-H were nominated by 4-H Clubs and a vote was taken at the 4-H Council meeting. Orscheln Farm and Home was honored as a Business Friend of 4-H. Karla Reisner and Kelly and Kristen Wondra were also honored as Friends of 4-H and thanked for all their volunteer work with the 4-H Program.
(The abbreviations in parentheses above refer to the various 4-H clubs in the county. These clubs include Busy Buzzers, Ellinwood Energizers, Eureka Homesteaders, Great Bend City Slickers, Hoisington Jets, Sharpshooters, South Bend Jolly Workers, TLC Twisters and Barton County Horse Club.)
Berny Unruh is the Cottonwood District 4-H and Youth Development Extension agent. She is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune. She can be reached at 620-793-1910 or at bunruh@ksu.edu.
