Barton Community College Foundation

05/18/2026

Congratulations to Kip and Kelly Spray, recipients of the 2026 Barton Community College Foundation Distinguished Service Award! 💙💛

Through their generosity, leadership, and unwavering support of education, the Sprays have made a lasting impact on Barton students and programs. From supporting major initiatives that help build students’ strength and resilience to faithfully investing in student success year after year, their commitment continues to change lives and open doors for future generations.

Their belief in the power of education and dedication to the Barton community embody the spirit of this award, and we are proud to celebrate this well-deserved honor.

Read more about their story here: https://bartonccc.edu/news/distinguished-service-award-26

04/17/2026

🎉 Big smiles in Great Bend! 🎉
We love supporting area high school students with After Prom scholarships 💙 These awards add a little extra excitement to a night all about fun, friends, and making safe choices.
Congrats to Madison Gaddis, senior at Great Bend High School, on receiving a $500 scholarship 👏🎓 Your future is bright!

04/15/2026

Test your knowledge of the College!
We are so excited to have our very first alumni event coming up May 6! Join us!

Think you know Barton? Prove it. 🧠💙
Join us for Barton Trivia Night and test your knowledge of the college while enjoying craft brews and reconnecting with fellow Cougars.

📅 Wednesday, May 6, 2026
📍 Dry Lake Brewing, Great Bend
⏰ Register at 6:30 pm | Trivia 7:00–8:30 pm
👥 Teams of 1–4

Show up, grab a spot, and let the games begin.

03/27/2026

We had a great time partnering with the Ellinwood Chamber of Commerce and Barton Community College to host last night's Chamber After Hours in Ellinwood!

Thank you to the many people who helped make the evening such a success:
✨ American Legion Post 320 for being such gracious hosts
✨ Ellinwood Chamber of Commerce for their coordination and support
✨ Barton Student Ambassadors for bringing great energy and representing Barton so well
✨ Great Western Dining for going above and beyond with the snacks
✨ Jonell Niles for capturing all the great moments throughout the night

We’re grateful for strong community partnerships and opportunities like this to connect. Looking forward to the next one!

03/02/2026

🎉 Join us in celebrating an incredible milestone! 🌟

We are so proud of our Foundation Board Chair, Nancy Sundahl, for being named 2025 Citizen of the Year by the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce! 🏆 Her lifelong dedication to our community, from education and service organizations to leadership roles that lift up others, truly reflects the heart of what it means to make Great Bend stronger and more connected.

Thank you, Nancy, for your tireless commitment, inspiring leadership, and generous spirit. You set the standard for what community leadership looks like, and we are honored to have you guiding our Foundation. 💙✨

Read the full storybelow!

Nancy Sundahl’s dedication to local organizations is so well known that Kevin, her husband of 52 years, joked, “A bumper sticker for her would be: ‘This car stops at all meetings.’”

12/18/2025

We are so honored to be in the Top Ten All Stars of organizations receiving funds this year through Giving Tuesday!!

12/11/2025

We've got a new face in the office, and we're so glad she's here! Welcome to Julie!!

Julie Bugner Smith Barton Community College has announced the hiring o

10/07/2025

🌟 It Takes a Village… and Ours is the Best! 🌟

Our 15th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot was a huge success, and it couldn’t have happened without the amazing support of our sponsors. Because of you, we can carry forward traditions that strengthen our community. We are proud to recognize our Major Sponsors, Shotgun Sponsors, and Donation Sponsors who went above and beyond to make this event possible. 😄👏

From all of us at the Barton Foundation…thank you for believing in our mission, investing in our students, and helping us aim higher every year. 💙💛

MAJOR SPONSORS ⭐️
Barton Community College • Great Bend Tribune • Hammeke Electric, Inc. • Innovative Livestock Service • MPIRE Improvements & Overhead Door • P&S Security • Pella of Kansas • Pryor Automatic Fire Sprinkler, Inc. Ricker Seeds, LLC • Summit Roofing

12ga SHOTGUN SPONSORS ⭐️
Kansas Trophy Experience • Parts Inc.

20ga SHOTGUN SPONSORS ⭐️
Craig & Jolene Biggs • First Kansas Bank • Gleason Landscaping • Mike & Linda Johnson • Mayo Money Management • MPIRE Realty Group • Panzer Insurance • Spectrum Partners, LLC
410ga SHOTGUN SPONSORS ⭐️
D. McMillen, Chtd. CPA • Rob & Trisha Dove • Jim Vopat – Edward Jones • Todd Armatys – Edward Jones • Eldridge Fencing • Equity Bank • Farmers Bank & Trust • Earl & Judy Fox • Keller Real Estate & Insurance Agency, Inc. • Kustom Floor Designs • Ken & Robin Lebbin • Kip & Kelly Spray • Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc.

DONATION SPONSORS ⭐️
10th Street Eyecare Center • Advanced Therapy & Sports Medicine • American Plains Co-op • Bomgaars • Gary & Anna Burke • C4 Ag Solutions • Crosby Wild Game Adventures • Ellinwood Packing Plant, Inc. • Great Bend Chamber of Commerce • Levi Keenan – State Farm Agent • Kirmer Electric, LLC • Nels & Karen Lindberg • L&M Contractors • Pepsi

10/03/2025

🔥🎯 15th Annual Clay Shoot – What a Day! 🎯🔥

Clays Crushed, Memories Made, Money Raised. Thank you all for an incredible day at the 15th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot! From the crack of the first clay to the last shot fired, the atmosphere was fantastic, the competition was exciting, and the sense of community made it more special. We are beyond grateful to everyone who came out to participate, cheer, volunteer, and support this event. Your enthusiasm and generosity are what make this tradition such a highlight year after year, and we couldn’t have asked for a better turnout! 💕

A huge round of applause goes to our top shooters who brought their best game to the field:
🏆 Top Men’s Shooter: Will Dulohery
🏆 Top Women’s Shooter: Audrey Jones
🏆 Top Youth Shooter: Hunter Duryee
🏆 Top Team: Hunter Alexander, Gus Dunbar, Travis Figge & Will Dulohery

Congratulations to our winners and thank you again to every single person who made the 15th Annual Clay Shoot a day to remember. Here’s to another year of fun, friendship, fundraising, and fantastic shooting. We can’t wait to see you all back next year! 💙💛

For shooting results and photos from the day, go here: clayshoot.bartonccfoundation.org

09/15/2025

The Shafer Art Gallery is bringing art to life for students and the community through this project!

🖋️ The Shafer Art Gallery is honoring the legacy of Kansas printmaker Orlin C. Baker (1886–1959) by reviving a selection of his original printing plates with the help of local artist Brian Hutchinson.

Baker was a skilled printmaker in drypoint, lithography, etching, and aquatint, and his wife, Margaret, was a dedicated supporter of the Shafer Gallery as both a donor and an active presence in the local arts community.

This special project brings Baker’s historic plates back to life while preserving the spirit of creativity and community that he and Margaret embodied.

Hutchinson lives in Hays, where he teaches art and art education at Fort Hays State University.

“The beauty of these plates to me is that we can revive those marks,” he said. “We can get them with fresh ink on new paper. Working on somebody else's plate is really interesting because I'm literally touching those marks, kind of almost going through some similar motions that the artist might have been doing. So, there's this sort of communion that happens between the past and the present. You're also sort of learning about their mark-making and how that is diverse from the way that I might engage with that. So, there's kind of a timeless quality.

Hutchinson also wanted to be a part of rescuing and bringing back the integrity of these works so that future generations can enjoy them. Both Hutchinson and Orlin once lived in Great Bend, and like many of the artists featured by the Gallery, they reflect its focus on Kansas art educators.

“Several of these plates also have been damaged over the years,” he said. “So, I enjoy that idea of repairing and engaging in some preservation to bring those images back to a much more powerful state and then keep them there so they can continue.”

📍 Shafer Art Gallery | Open Mon–Sat, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Free admission
📸:https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCsSLX
📝 Full Story: https://bartonccc.edu/news/plate-making-shafer-brian-hutchinson