VIDALIA, La. &045; Junior Beta Club members, their parents and sponsors from five parishes converged Saturday on Vidalia High School for regional competitions in academics, speech, writing and performing arts.

In all, 750 honor society members and supporters were crammed into the school’s gym early Saturday afternoon for talent competitions.

Acts included everything from a rendition of &uot;Colors of the Wind&uot; to performance from &uot;Les Miserables.&uot; In the wings, one talent team waited, dressed in early American garb.

&uot;That’s the best part &045; seeing the performances, what people worked on all year,&uot; said Jorge Gonzalez, president of Monterey School’s Junior Beta Club.

Concordia and four surrounding parishes take turns hosting the annual regional competition, which includes academic testing; a spelling bee; and competitions in speaking, creative writing and math.

The first- through fourth-place winners from Saturday’s competitions will advance to the state convention May 5 and 6 in Lafayette and the national competition June 15-18 in New Orleans.

And clubs will literally start working on the next year’s talent acts right after this year’s competitions, said Vidalia Junior High Beta sponsor DeShay Rushing.

Concordia Parish Beta Clubs had one talent entry, a song performed by Giolanna Little, a Monterey seventh grader, said Monterey Beta sponsor Jackie Coco.

Coco and Rushing spent four months in preparation to host the event. And Syndey Guidroz, president of Vidalia Junior High’s Beta Club, said she and other members spent more than two hours decorating for Saturday’s talent competition.

But it seemed that for Guidroz and her fellow Junior Beta Club members, it was all worth it in the end.

&uot;It’s a good experience,&uot; she said.

&uot;We get to meet a lot of new people and see how talented they really are.&uot;