By Patricia Breakey
Delhi News Bureau
WALTON — A 6-year-old 4-H member who The Daily Star Online Star photo by Patricia Breakey Brittany Hall, 6, of Treadwell speaks into a headset microphone as she demonstrates how to make tissue-paper butterflies during her 4-H public presentation at the Delaware County Fair on Friday. stood on the stage demonstrating how to make a tissue-paper butterfly may have also had butterflies in her stomach. But if she was nervous, she didn’t let it show. A standing-room-only crowd gathered around the presentation area in the 4-H building at the Delaware County Fair on Friday to watch Brittany Hall, who was equipped with a headset microphone, create a butterfly while she described the various steps. Karen Kemp of Franklin was judging the performances. "What is your favorite kind of butterfly?" Kemp asked. "And how did you come up with this idea?" Brittany said she found the craft idea in FamilyFun magazine but she was stumped on a favorite butterfly until Kemp prompted her by suggesting that there are a lot of monarch butterflies around. "I love doing this," Kemp said later. "It’s just a wonderful experience for them and it prepares them to speak in front of people throughout their lives. It sure makes school and college presentations much easier. "I look forward to judging every year," Kemp added. "I learn a lot from the kids." Brittany, from Treadwell, is the youngest member of her club, 4-H for Friendship, but she has a lot of support from her three sisters, who are also members. Her sisters had each taken a turn on stage prior to Brittany’s appearance. Tiffany, 13, did a presentation on the colors of horses. Christina, 11, described the process of making puppy chow snack mix, and Abby, 8, talked about purebred Puerto Rican horses because she just got one. Tiffany said she always gets nervous, even though this is her fifth year on the stage. "A lot of people get so nervous they can’t move," Tiffany said. "I have done so many of them, it’s not that bad anymore." Michael and Janice Hall were on hand for their daughters’ moments in the spotlight. Janice Hall said they are a very active 4-H family. She said she and her husband assist Cindy Anderson and Diane Maxwell in leading the club, so the entire family goes to the meetings. Janice Hall said she has insisted that the girls do public presentations since they joined 4-H. "Sometimes they complain that not everyone has to do them, but I have seen such a difference in them since they started doing this," Janice Hall said. "They are so composed and self-confident when they get up in front of their class or in church. "But I didn’t have to convince Brittany, she couldn’t wait to do it," she said. Tiffany and Christina both attend 4-H Camp Shankitunk and are serving as dairy ambassadors, assisting Delaware County Dairy Princess Katy Johnson promote milk. Tiffany said the family recently got two horses, Sherry, a walker/trotter and Rosie, the purebred Puerto Rican horse, so many of their 4-H activities are beginning to be horse-related. "We went to a stable and went from stall to stall to learn different techniques of taking care of horses," Tiffany said. "And we are learning how to ride." The Hall sisters all had items on display in the building that they had entered for judging. "See the skirt I made," Brittany said, pointing to a tiny blue skirt hanging on the wall.