Barton County was host to Regional 4-H Day at Great Bend High School on March 13th. Regional 4-H Day participants are the top presentations selected at their local county 4-H Day. The counties represented in the Heart of Kansas 4-H Day Regional are Ellsworth, Pawnee, Rice, Russell, Stafford and Barton.  
4-H Day gives 4-H members an opportunity to experience public presentations given in front of an audience and a judge. In addition to developing public presentation skills, members also learn to work with others from their club or county.
In the Public Speaking competition, Kylie Broeder, Eureka Homesteaders 4-H Club received a purple rating. Betsy Snell, Ellinwood Energizers placed in public speaking with a first alternate blue. In Extemporaneous Speaking, BreAnn Anshutz, Busy Buzzers 4-H, received a blue rating and Hannah Mauler, Busy Buzzers, received a red rating. In the project talk division, Mathew Hicks, South Bend Jolly Workers, received a white rating.
In Junior Demonstrations, Dalton Dicks, Busy Buzzers 4-H placed with a purple rating and Alexa Straub, Ellinwood Energizers received a first alternate blue rating. In the Senior Demonstration division, Ryan Broeder, Eureka Homesteaders and Luke Wondra, Ellinwood Energizers both received a blue rating.
In the music performance room, BreAnn Anshutz, Busy Buzzers, received the top purple rating on her piano solo. Kylie Broeder, Eureka Homesteaders received a second alternate blue placing on her instrumental solo. Alivia Bautista, Eureka Homesteaders 4-H Club received a second alternate rating on her vocal solo.
In the talent division, Alaina Straub from the Ellinwood Energizers performed a dance and received a top purple ribbon. Ryan Broeder received blue on his senior reading entry and Landon Woydziak, Hoisington Jets 4-H Club, received a red rating on his junior reading. The Hoisington Jets 4-H club placed with a top purple on their novelty presentation using bells.  TLC Twisters 4-H Club presented a skit and received a blue rating.      
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