Malorie Thorson, a 20-year-old college student from Waverly, representing Wright County, was crowned the 72nd Princess Kay of the Milky Way in an evening ceremony August 20 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.
Thorson will serve as the official goodwill ambassador for the nearly 1,800 Minnesota dairy farm families. She is the daughter of Andrew and Colette Thorson and attends South Dakota State University.
Ten county dairy princesses from throughout Minnesota competed for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way title. Alexis Hoefs of New Prague, representing Le Sueur County, and April Klaphake of Sauk Centre, representing Stearns County, were selected as runners-up.
Hoefs, Natalie Clemenson of Zumbrota, representing Goodhue County, and Nicole Hauschildt of Zumbro Falls, representing Wabasha County, were named scholarship winners. Lauren Steffl of Sleepy Eye, representing Brown County, was named Miss Congeniality.
Throughout her year-long reign as Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Thorson will make public appearances to help connect consumers to Minnesota’s dairy farm families. She will work to bring dairy to life through conversations, classroom visits and various speaking engagements about the nutritional benefits of dairy and dairy farmers’ continual commitment to environmental sustainability.
Thorson’s first official duty as Princess Kay will be to sit in a rotating cooler in the Dairy Building (located at the corner of Judson Avenue and Underwood Street) to have her likeness sculpted in a 90-pound block of butter the first two days of the Minnesota State Fair – Thursday, August 21, and Friday, August 22. Minnesota artist and butter sculptor Gerry Kulzer will be carving Princess Kay and the finalists.
Throughout the fair, Princess Kay and the other finalists will make appearances near the Butter Sculpture Booth in the Dairy Building. Princess Kay’s Facebook page and Instagram will provide regular updates and photos of each completed butter sculpture.
Princess Kay candidates are judged on their general knowledge of the dairy industry, communication skills and enthusiasm for dairy. Midwest Dairy sponsors the Princess Kay program, which is funded by dairy farmers through their promotion checkoff.
Midwest Dairy® represents 3,600 dairy farm families and works on their behalf to build dairy demand by inspiring consumer confidence in our products and production practices. We are committed to Bringing Dairy to Life! by giving Consumers an Excellent Dairy Experience and are funded by farmers across a 10-state region, including Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. For more information, visit MidwestDairy.com, and follow us on Facebook and YouTube.