Sculpted in butter
One of the highlights for Afton Nelson of being a Princess Kay finalist was having her likeness carved out of a 90-pound block of butter. Nelson said she is still undecided what to do with the butter head as it’s stored in her father’s new freezer. Staff photo by Rick Bussler
After spending hours in a cooler spinning around as thousands of people watched her, Afton Nelson came away with two surprises.
First, she didn’t get as cold as she thought she would in the 40-degree cooler. And secondly, she was shocked at how well her glasses turned out on the butter head.
As one of nine finalists for Princess Kay, Nelson had her likeness carved out of a 90-pound block of butter in what has become one of the most popular attractions at the Minnesota State Fair. Nelson’s turn with the butter head came on Sept. 1, the day Minnesota governor and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz made an appearance in the Dairy Building.
“It was chaotic to get into the Dairy Building,” said Nelson, noting she had to go through metal detectors and additional security. “We had the best seat in the house as we got to sit and spin for six hours,” she said, referring to professional artist and sculptor Gerry Kulzer.
Nelson, who has been a dairy princess for Steele County for the past three summers, is still undecided what to do with her butter head. She said her father, Tim Nelson, bought a new freezer to store it for right now. She is kicking around several ideas, including using it at a future Breakfast on the Farm event or a baked potato feed.
Each sculpture is carved from a 90-pound block of Grade A butter, which is produced exclusively for the fair event by Associated Milk Producers, Inc. of New Ulm. It takes 2.5 gallons of whole milk to make a pound of butter.
She described the experience of becoming a Princess Kay finalist as surreal. “It was like a dream come true for me,” Nelson said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The butter sculpting was just one of Nelson's State Fair activities. One of her favorites was interacting with consumers at the trivia wheel in the Dairy Building. She also did several media interviews with Twin Cities radio and TV stations, assisted at the FFA Dairy Show, and judged the amateur butter sculpting contest.
Nelson is thankful for the judging process Steele County utilizes in selecting dairy princesses, which prepared her for the Princess Kay competition. She said it’s done in Steele County the exact way the state conducted Princess Kay judging. She found several other counties do not have as extensive a judging process.
She hopes to return to Steele County to assist Gail Zollner of the Steele County American Dairy Association with judging future competitions.
Being a dairy princess has helped Nelson learn more about herself. “I’m not as shy as I thought,” she said. “It has given me the ability to interact and communicate with consumers.”
Nelson is a junior at the University of Wisconsin River Falls, where she is majoring in dairy science. Her plan is to pursue a career in animal genetics.
Rachel Visser of Hutchinson, representing McLeod County, was crowned the 71st Princess Kay of the Milky Way.