Hurrah for Princess Kay!

Mary Zahurones and Sculptor Linda Christensen at the 2011 MN State Fair

It is nearly time for the Great Minnesota Get-Together, the Minnesota State Fair! Tomorrow evening, August 22 at 8:30 PM the State Fair Band Shell will be host to the crowning of the 59th Princess Kay of the Milky Way. Princess Kay is the official goodwill ambassador for the dairy industry of Minnesota, and will represent our states 4,300 dairy farmers. Mary Zahurones the 2011-2012 Princess Kay of the Milky Way will crown her successor. Our new Princess Kay will begin her reign by having her likeness carved from a 90 pound block of butter. This takes place in the rotating cooler in the Dairy building on the fairgrounds for all of us to watch. It takes about 4 hours to complete this masterpiece, so stop by if you're at the Fair. Each of the other 10 finalists will also get their likeness carved, one on each day of the fair. So if you can't be there on Thursday, August 23rd to see Princess Kay in the works, stop another day to see the finished buttery artwork.

How did these 11 finalists get chosen? My May 19, 2012 post, 60 Promising Princesses will explain the process. How will we know who is crowned the new dairy goodwill ambassador? You can attend the crowning, (it's free), or you can go to the Princess Kay Facebook page where the results will be shared from 8:30-9:30 as it happens!

Lastly, a HUGE thank you to Mary Zahurones for representing Minnesota's Dairy Farmers in royal style. You had a very busy year, but you never lost that beautiful smile and your wonderful eagerness to share the dairy story we are so proud of!