5 princesses to represent dairy industry
Five young women are representing Steele County as this year’s dairy princesses. They include, from left: Courtney Kath, Afton Nelson, Katelyn Rysavy, Lilly Zollner and Hailey Rysavy. They were crowned at Saturday’s dairy banquet held on the Steele County Fairgrounds. Staff photo by Rick Bussler
Four veteran princesses and a new comer will be representing the Steele County dairy industry this year.
On Saturday, Courtney Kath, Hailey Rysavy, Katelyn Rysavy and Lilly Zollner assumed their roles as dairy princesses once again with Afton Nelson joining the group for the first time. They were all crowned princesses at the annual banquet of the Steele County American Dairy Association held at the fairgrounds.
Kath, 18, currently works at Kids Korner Educare in Owatonna. She plans to pursue a degree in early childhood education. She is the daughter of Matt and Jill Kath of Owatonna.
Hailey Rysavy, 19, is a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. She is pursuing a degree in speech pathology and plans to work in an elementary school. She is the daughter of Ben and Wendy Rysavy of Owatonna.
Katelyn Rysavy, 20, attends STEP program in Faribault. Her career aspiration is to work in food service or greenhouse work. She is the daughter of Joe and Cheryl Rysavy of Owatonna.
Zollner, 20, finished her junior year at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls where she focused on animal science. She plans to complete her degree at Dakota County Technical College. Her parents are Mark and Gail Zollner of Owatonna.
Afton Nelson, 18, is a senior at Glencoe-Silver Lake High School. She plans to attend South Dakota State University in Brookings to major in dairy production. She is the daughter of Tim Nelson of Owatonna and Stacy Nelson of Glencoe.
The princesses will be involved with various dairy promotions over the next few months. One of the biggest events will be the Breakfast on the Farm slated for Saturday, June 11. Among the other promotions will be dairy days, parades, malt stand and the fair.
Besides the princesses, 17 junior dairy ambassadors were recognized at the banquet. They are Chase Balzer, Claira Balzer, Ava Cox, Anna Cox, Chloe Garten, Lukas Halla, Madison Homuth, Madi Murphy, Andy Nelson, Cali Nelson, Kellen Nelson, Marcus Rysavy, Anton Schroeder, Weston Schroht, Colin Schultz, Isabella Schultz and Ali Slater.
Also honored were the dukes and duchesses, which are children in grades K-3. They include: Eliza Balzer, Penelope Balzer, Isaac Demmer, Ethan Demmer, Evan Halla, Mackenzie Jacobsen, Olivia Jacobsen, August Schroht and Elizabeth Schultz.
The local ADA board consists of Jon Schmidt, chair; Casey Nelson, vice chair; Aaron Schroht, treasurer; Abby Mundt, secretary and directors Cathy Balzer, Rick Balzer, Glenn Johnson, Pete Kasper, Amy Nelson, Dale Spinler and Gail Zollner.
There are presently 14 active dairy farms in Steele County compared to 40 producers 10 years ago.