Let's Cheer Them On! Go girls and GOOD LUCK!!

This was sent to me from my friend Sandy. I hope one of them wins. I LOVE the State Fair and all the cool traditions.

From my cousin Dean and wife Elizabeth - their two girls are up for Princess Kay of the Milky Way at the Minnesota State Fair - see the link below.
Sandy

 

2010 Princess Kay of the Milky Way sits

for a butter sculptor at the Minnesota State Fair

Johnsons are history-making dairy princesses

By Heather Thorstensen
hthorstensen@agrinews.com

HERON LAKE, Minn. — April and Chelsey Johnson are cheering each other on to be the next state dairy princess.

They are the first sisters in the 58-year history of Princess Kay of the Milky Way program to be finalists at the same time. Ten other county dairy princesses join them in the running. The selection will be made Aug. 24.

The Johnson sisters of Heron Lake are Cottonwood County dairy princesses who grew up sharing milking duties and working on 4-H projects. They competed together on the team that took first place in the state during the 2009 4-H senior dairy project bowl.

If one of them is selected to be Princess Kay, they say they will both be happy that their county, family and the state's dairy farms are represented. The other sister would still get to share in the experience as they help during the year-long reign.

"We're competing for each other rather than against each other," said April.

April, 21, is the eldest of Dean and Elizabeth Johnson's four children. She is the detail-oriented one who started keeping records on her family's dairy cows at age 8 or 9.Chelsey, 19, is the tomboy who liked running through the feed alley, dodging cows to improve her agility and shooting baskets in front of the barn between chores.

For three years, Chelsey has helped her older sister prepare for the May event, where Princess Kay hopefuls are narrowed down to 12 finalists. When they decided to run together this year, they met in Chelsey's room every night once they were on summer break from college to practice media interviews and their speeches.

When April was named a finalist, Chelsey uncharacteristically shed happy tears.

"It's something that I've always seen in the future for her," said Chelsey. "With her passion for dairy and her leadership abilities, I think she would do an excellent job.

For April, being crowned Princess Kay would be an honor, a chance partly to show — though they're few — that there still are dairy farmers in Cottonwood County. There hasn't been a Princess Kay from the county since the 1980s, she said.

April was president of the Windom FFA chapter, Springfield Sparklers 4-H Club and Cottonwood County 4-H Federation. Chelsey also became president for those groups, saying it's because of April's example that she felt comfortable taking them on.

But April says Chelsey is also a guide for her in some ways. It's Chelsey she turns to for support and encouragement.

"I think Chelsey would be an excellent Princess Kay of the Milky Way," said April, "because she's an excellent communicator, really good at writing and delivering speeches in a really creative manner. And also, going into ag communications, I think this role would be something that would really benefit her in any future career path that she would choose."

Chelsey wants to be Princess Kay for a chance of self-improvement and to continue developing her skills as a dairy promoter.

A sophomore at South Dakota State University, she is studying agriculture communications and English education. She plans to be an ag journalist or a writing teacher. She is a historian for SDSU's dairy club, of which April is president.

April is a senior at the university, double majoring in dairy production and agricultural education. Her hope is to work for an AI company, as a 4-H program coordinator or as an agriculture teacher.

April is driving 1,500 miles a week across the Midwest this summer as an Alta Genetics intern, picking out sire's daughters to be photographed for a catalog. Meanwhile, Chelsey has been leading orientations on the SDSU campus and working as a nanny for a local family.

The Johnson family milks approximately 80 cows, mostly Holsteins, and raise their own replacement heifers. They farm about 320 acres of corn, soybeans and alfalfa. Both of April and Chelsey's parents grew up on dairy farms; the family lives now on the farm where their father grew up. Their mother's 10 siblings are all farming in the area.