Princess Kay of the Milky Way

Young woman wearing sleeveless black and white print dress, smiling and waving in a parade. Sign in front of her says Princess Kay of the Milky Way
Katie Miron, Princess Kay of the Milky Way, 2010, was a 19-year-old student at the University of Minnesota.[1]

Princess Kay of the Milky Way is the title awarded to the winner of the statewide Minnesota Dairy Princess Program, an annual competition organized by the Midwest Dairy Association. During her one-year term, the Princess Kay of the Milky Way serves as official good-will ambassador for the Minnesota dairy industry. The Princess is crowned every year at the Minnesota State Fair, and receives a scholarship. The crowning of Princess Kay annually garners statewide as well as national media coverage.[2]

The competition was the idea of Lew Conlon, who managed the Minnesota Dairy Industry Committee.[2] The name "Princess Kay of the Milky Way" was selected from over 10,000 entries in a 1954 contest to name the Minnesota dairy princess.[3]

  1. ^ "Katie Miron of Hugo named 57th Princess Kay of the Milky Way". Pioneer Press. Media News Group. August 25, 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Marling, Karal Ann (1990). Blue Ribbon: A Social and Pictorial History of the Minnesota State Fair. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press. pp. 136–137. ISBN 978-0-87351-252-7.
  3. ^ Baranauckas, Carla (August 27, 2005). "Minnesota State Fair Journal; A Dairy Queen, Oops, Princess, in All Her Buttery Glory". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2023. after the official title Princess Kay of the Milky Way was chosen from 10,000 entries in a statewide contest