60 Promising Princesses

This is a fun, exciting and nail-biting weekend for 60 young ladies from Minnesota! May 18-20 is the Dairy Princess Promotion Workshop in St. Joseph, MN. It is a weekend devoted to skill-building to share the message of dairy farmers commitment to providing safe, high-quality milk and dairy products, including taking good care of our cows and the land. 

But how are these 60 young women chosen to attend this workshop? Each of them are from a dairy farm family, or they or their parents or guardian are employed by a dairy farm. They are selected as their county's Dairy Princesses, and then move on to the May Event in St. Joseph. This is also where the 12 finalists are selected  for the Minnesota dairy industry's goodwill ambassador, Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Candidates are judged on a written application, a short speech, a professional interview, and a mock media interview.  

After a busy summer of June Dairy Month promotions, parades, and County Fairs, the 12 finalists come together again in August for more judging. Our 59th Princess Kay of the Milky Way is then crowned the night before the Minnesota State Fair. Exhausting? You bet! Worth it? Absolutely!

Our Princess, Sara

 Seven years ago, my daughter Sara was one of the 12 finalists named at the May Promotion Event. I remember sitting at the banquet listening to the clues about the next finalist before her name was revealed.  I thought, wow, she sounds like a well-rounded, busy gal." Ladies and gentlemen, from Dakota County, Sara." Yes, like a good mom I cried, and cried. I always knew she was worthy of representing the Dairy Industry, but now everyone knew.

You can learn the names of this years lucky finalists by going to Princess Kay's Facebook page or on Twitter by using the hashtag #MNPrincessKay. Finalists will also be posted at Midwest Dairy.