Barton County 4-H members were honored for their accomplishments at the 81st annual 4-H Achievement Celebration. Heather Schneider, 4-H Council President and Kayleigh Bitter, Council Secretary served as the emcees. Betsy Snell, Council Treasurer led the members in the Flag Salute and 4-H Pledge. Mikey Hughes, Council Reporter introduced the special guests
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 recipients of the 2015 Key Awards were Kayleigh Bitter, Mikey Hughes, Brinttain Noah, Heather Schneider and Betsy Snell. The Key awards are sponsored by the Farm Credit Associations of Kansas.
Cloverbud 4-H members receiving certificates were Kylee Miessler, Emma Snapp, and Trason Stevens (BB); Shae Hoskins (EE); Clair Birzer and DJ Wyant (EH); Chason Ramsey (GBCS); Benjamin Wutka (TLC). 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 increases in difficulty each year. Those receiving first year membership pins were Dylan Ferguson and Sierra Ferguson (BB); Tate Martin and Cayman Rowan (EE); Christian Mason and Nicole Rziha (GBCS); Noah Deines (HJ); Ivan Gutierrez, Melissa Gutierrez, Elsa Lopez, Angel Razo, Omar Razo, Einar Vargas, Chelsea Villarreal, Jason Villarreal (SBJW) and Nathan Wutka (TLC).
Bronze Pin recipients: Parker Dicks and Kylie McCormick (BB); Erin Hammeke (EE); Landon Woydziak (HJ); Deklin, Dominic and Liberty Marsh (SBJW); Cheyenne, Sage and Shaelee Martinz (TLC)
Clover Pin recipients: Augustus and Woodson Corbett, (EE); Isaac Burgess, Mathew MacMahon, and Gabrielle Reif (HJ).
Emerald Pin winners: Alaina Straub (EE) and Mallory Reif (HJ).
Silver Pin winners: Ryan Niles (EE); Kyle Rziha (GBCS);  Paige Koehn (SS).
Silver Guard recipients: Dalton Dicks (BB); Alexa Straub (EE); Nicolas Long and Michael MacMahon (HJ); Mathew Hicks (SBJW);  Molly Kaiser and Morgan Kaiser (TLC).
Leadership Pin recipients: BrayLynn Anshutz (BB) and Luke Wondra (EE).
Gold Pin winners: BreAnn Anshutz (BB); Katherine Hicks (SBJW) and Kirk Reisner (HJ). Receiving the Gold Guard was Heather Schneider (TLC).
Those who applied for and received the yearly membership pin were Payton Mauler and Haley McCormick (BB); Sarah Hammeke, Caylee and Caden Rowan, Betsy Snell and Cody Wondra (EE); Kayleigh Bitter and Brinttain Noah (HJ).   
Barton County Project Award Winners are determined by their work in the project. Youth report goals and what they have accomplished in their project, leadership and citizenship work in the Kansas Award Portfolio (KAP) application. The Barton County junior project winner in Beef was Luke Wondra (EE) and Dalton Dicks, (BB) was alternate. In the Bucket Calf project, Parker Dicks was champion and Dylan Ferguson was named honorable mention.
In Clothing & Textiles the senior project winner was BreAnn Anshutz was the senior champion. In the junior division, Alexa Straub was named champion and Haley McCormick received honorable mention.
The Dog Care & Training senior project winner was Kayleigh Bitter, Hoisington Jets. Junior award champion was Nicole Rziha and Gus Corbett received honorable mention. Senior Dairy Goat project winner was Katherine Hicks and Mathew Hicks was junior champion.
The Foods & Nutrition project winner was Kayleigh Bitter and alternate was Betsy Snell. Junior division champion was BrayLynn Anshutz and honorable mention was Ryan Niles.
The Leadership project award was given to Kayleigh Bitter. In Meat Goats, Mathew Hicks was named champion.         
The senior Photography project champion was Kayleigh Bitter. In the junior division, Ryan Niles was champion and Dalton Dicks was honorable mention. In Plant Science, Payton Mauler was named senior champion. Mallory Reif was junior champion and Dominic Marsh was alternate. Rabbit project senior award went to Katherine Hicks and junior award was given to Mathew Hicks.    
In the Reading project, Kayleigh Bitter was named champion and Dalton Dicks was junior champion. Dalton Dicks was named Self-determined project winner with Dylan Ferguson receiving honorable mention. Shooting Sports project winner was Dalton Dicks and Woodson Corbett earned the junior alternate award. Dalton Dicks was named award winner in the Space Tech project with Kyle Rziha receiving honorable mention.
The Swine project winner in the junior division was Luke Wondra with Mathew Hicks  named as alternate.  
Visual Arts senior project winner was Kayleigh Bitter. Dalton Dicks was named junior champion and Woodson Corbett was alternate.
Wildlife project champion was Ryan Niles.  Wood Science project winner was Augustus Corbett  and Woodson Corbett was junior alternate. Kirk Reisner had the top secretary book and Brinttain Noah had the top treasurer book.
Farm Bureau supports leadership activities for young people and this year they provided recognition for those who served as 2015 4-H camp counselors at Rock Springs Ranch. Fifth year counselors honored were Jacob Durrett and Desmond Noah. Third year counselors were Kayleigh Bitter, Mikey Hughes, Heather Schneider and Betsy Snell. Brinttain Noah was honored as a second year counselor and Thomas Harmon was a first year counselor.
The judging teams who represented Barton County at the state judging were recognized. Senior photography team members were Kayleigh Bitter, Thomas Harmon and Alivia Bautista. Intermediate team members were Rebekah Harmon, Molly Kaiser, Paige Koehn and Alexa Straub. The intermediate team was named the first place team in the state.
Senior poultry judging team members were Heather Schneider, Mikey and Zeb Hughes. The team placed second in the state with Heather Schneider honored as the first place individual and Mikey Hughes placed fourth. Liberty and Dominic Marsh and Dathan Proffitt were members of the junior poultry judging team. Livestock team members were Mattie and Katie Shafer, Rebekah and Thomas Harmon.
The state Family and Consumer Science judging team members were Dalton Dicks and BrayLynn Anshutz.
4-H Council perfect attendance awards were presented to: Kayleigh Bitter, Carrie Bitter and Karla Reisner (Hoisington Jets); Liberty and Liston Marsh and Sarah Niederee  (South Bend Jolly Workers); Kathy McGinnis (Sharpshooters); Morgan and Leonard Kaiser (TLC).
The “I Dare You”award was presented to Betsy Snell from the Ellinwood Energizers, Kayleigh Bitter from the Hoisington Jets and Heather Schneider from the TLC Twisters 4-H Club.