Nobles County dairy princess
will have likeness preserved in butter
will have likeness preserved in butter
By Mavis Fodness
Finalists for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way crown have their likenesses sculpted out of a 90-pound block of butter during the Minnesota State Fair, a tradition that’s been ongoing for 60 years.
This year, Nobles County Dairy Princess Stephanie Dykstra of Bigelow is one of the princess finalists. In August, Dykstra will sit in a glass-enclosed refrigerator in front of hundreds of onlookers.
Dykstra could become the third Nobles County dairy princess to serve a one-year term as the statewide dairy ambassador for the Minnesota Dairy Association, who organizes the annual crowning and butter-carving event.
“Only time will tell who gets chosen to be the Princess Kay of the Milky Way,” Dykstra said. “But it would be an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
For the past three years, since she was a junior at Worthington High School, Dykstra’s filled the local dairy ambassador duties. This is the first year she applied for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way position. She interviewed last month with a panel of three judges and gave a speech on a drawn topic. Ironically, she picked a topic in which she was familiar: The importance of school-aged children eating nutritious dairy products.
“I especially like when get to work with kids,” she said. “A yearly favorite of mine is working with the ‘Undeniably Dairy’ malt stand during my local county fair.”
Dykstra is the fourth of six children of Steve and Esther Dykstra. She often explains the daily activities at her family’s 300-head dairy operation and the working of 2,000-acres of cropland and pasture ground. Dykstra plays an active role on the farm.
“In the barn, I feed calves, vaccinate, genomic test, scrape pens and push up feed. In the field, I haul loads during hay season, run grain cart for harvest, rock pick, rake and pick up bales,” she said.
Becoming a dairy industry ambassador came easily to Dykstra, who followed in her older sister’s footsteps as Nobles County Dairy Princess.
“I wanted to be a dairy princess because it gave me the opportunity to represent and advocate for the local dairy producers in my community,” she said. “Growing up on a dairy sparked my passion for the industry and I love sharing that with folks who haven’t had the dairy experience I have been given.”
Dykstra is currently a sophomore at South Dakota State University in Brookings, pursuing a degree in agricultural science.
As a finalist, Dykstra could be selected as the 73rd Princess Kay of the Milky Way, following Diane Kramer, who was crowned in 1961 and Tae (Vander Kooi) Nordby in 2003. Nobles County is the only county in the six-county area of southwest Minnesota who’s had a dairy princess selected as the Princess Kay of the Milky Way.
Deb Vander Kooi is the Nobles County Dairy Association’s county princess coordinator and Nordby’s mother.
According to Vander Kooi, just the selection as a Princess Kay of the Milky Way finalist is a huge accomplishment and the experience will be memorable.
“I’m so excited for Stephanie,” she said. “I’ve sat on some of the (MDA) committees, and the judging is pretty intense for the finalists.”
Dykstra will spend the summer with the nine other finalists attending various events promoting the dairy industry. Some of those events include the Minnesota Vikings training camp and the dairy center at the Minnesota Zoo. Concluding the summer activities is the Minnesota State Fair, where the finalists take centerstage from Aug. 27 to Sept. 7.
Carving of the affectionally named “butter heads” began in 1965 and is a state fair staple.
Each of the finalists spend six- to eight-hours in the glass refrigerator as their facial likenesses are carved in butter. At the end of the state fair, finalists take their butter heads home, where most butter heads are consumed at public gatherings.
Sometimes, however, the butter heads take years before they reach a home freezer.
Vander Kooi said her daughter’s, Tae Nordby’s, butter head spent five years on display at the Minnesota Historical Society’s part of the state’s 150th-year celebration.
“They were so excited because no museum in the United States had a butter head,” Vander Kooi said.
Nordby’s butter head is still in the freezer at the Vander Kooi farm near Worthington.
Dykstra is unsure what she will do with her butter head
“I would love to share it in some way – even if it’s just the scraps going to some event like a pancake or a sweet corn feed,” she said.
Her father, Steve, said he can’t wait to stick sweet corn in the ear of his daughter’s butter head.
“I’m the father of a butter head,” he added proudly.
The Midwest Dairy Association announced the finalists for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way last month.
In addition to Dykstra, other finalists and the counties they represent include:
•Kalley Christen, McLeod
•Elizabeth Cordon, Redwood
•Claudia Frenchick, Meeker
•Jena Hanson, Steele
•Morgan Morrow, Benton
•Isabelle Schiffler, Stearns
•Gracie Seller, Brown
•Jaiden Smith, Stearns
•Daisy Zimmermann, Stearns
The Princess Kay of the Milky Way coronation takes place Aug. 26, the day before the start of the Minnesota State Fair.
Finalists for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way crown have their likenesses sculpted out of a 90-pound block of butter during the Minnesota State Fair, a tradition that’s been ongoing for 60 years.
This year, Nobles County Dairy Princess Stephanie Dykstra of Bigelow is one of the princess finalists. In August, Dykstra will sit in a glass-enclosed refrigerator in front of hundreds of onlookers.
Dykstra could become the third Nobles County dairy princess to serve a one-year term as the statewide dairy ambassador for the Minnesota Dairy Association, who organizes the annual crowning and butter-carving event.
“Only time will tell who gets chosen to be the Princess Kay of the Milky Way,” Dykstra said. “But it would be an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
For the past three years, since she was a junior at Worthington High School, Dykstra’s filled the local dairy ambassador duties. This is the first year she applied for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way position. She interviewed last month with a panel of three judges and gave a speech on a drawn topic. Ironically, she picked a topic in which she was familiar: The importance of school-aged children eating nutritious dairy products.
“I especially like when get to work with kids,” she said. “A yearly favorite of mine is working with the ‘Undeniably Dairy’ malt stand during my local county fair.”
Dykstra is the fourth of six children of Steve and Esther Dykstra. She often explains the daily activities at her family’s 300-head dairy operation and the working of 2,000-acres of cropland and pasture ground. Dykstra plays an active role on the farm.
“In the barn, I feed calves, vaccinate, genomic test, scrape pens and push up feed. In the field, I haul loads during hay season, run grain cart for harvest, rock pick, rake and pick up bales,” she said.
Becoming a dairy industry ambassador came easily to Dykstra, who followed in her older sister’s footsteps as Nobles County Dairy Princess.
“I wanted to be a dairy princess because it gave me the opportunity to represent and advocate for the local dairy producers in my community,” she said. “Growing up on a dairy sparked my passion for the industry and I love sharing that with folks who haven’t had the dairy experience I have been given.”
Dykstra is currently a sophomore at South Dakota State University in Brookings, pursuing a degree in agricultural science.
As a finalist, Dykstra could be selected as the 73rd Princess Kay of the Milky Way, following Diane Kramer, who was crowned in 1961 and Tae (Vander Kooi) Nordby in 2003. Nobles County is the only county in the six-county area of southwest Minnesota who’s had a dairy princess selected as the Princess Kay of the Milky Way.
Deb Vander Kooi is the Nobles County Dairy Association’s county princess coordinator and Nordby’s mother.
According to Vander Kooi, just the selection as a Princess Kay of the Milky Way finalist is a huge accomplishment and the experience will be memorable.
“I’m so excited for Stephanie,” she said. “I’ve sat on some of the (MDA) committees, and the judging is pretty intense for the finalists.”
Dykstra will spend the summer with the nine other finalists attending various events promoting the dairy industry. Some of those events include the Minnesota Vikings training camp and the dairy center at the Minnesota Zoo. Concluding the summer activities is the Minnesota State Fair, where the finalists take centerstage from Aug. 27 to Sept. 7.
Carving of the affectionally named “butter heads” began in 1965 and is a state fair staple.
Each of the finalists spend six- to eight-hours in the glass refrigerator as their facial likenesses are carved in butter. At the end of the state fair, finalists take their butter heads home, where most butter heads are consumed at public gatherings.
Sometimes, however, the butter heads take years before they reach a home freezer.
Vander Kooi said her daughter’s, Tae Nordby’s, butter head spent five years on display at the Minnesota Historical Society’s part of the state’s 150th-year celebration.
“They were so excited because no museum in the United States had a butter head,” Vander Kooi said.
Nordby’s butter head is still in the freezer at the Vander Kooi farm near Worthington.
Dykstra is unsure what she will do with her butter head
“I would love to share it in some way – even if it’s just the scraps going to some event like a pancake or a sweet corn feed,” she said.
Her father, Steve, said he can’t wait to stick sweet corn in the ear of his daughter’s butter head.
“I’m the father of a butter head,” he added proudly.
The Midwest Dairy Association announced the finalists for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way last month.
In addition to Dykstra, other finalists and the counties they represent include:
•Kalley Christen, McLeod
•Elizabeth Cordon, Redwood
•Claudia Frenchick, Meeker
•Jena Hanson, Steele
•Morgan Morrow, Benton
•Isabelle Schiffler, Stearns
•Gracie Seller, Brown
•Jaiden Smith, Stearns
•Daisy Zimmermann, Stearns
The Princess Kay of the Milky Way coronation takes place Aug. 26, the day before the start of the Minnesota State Fair.
