Princess Kay at CSB
Abbie Dunham
very time Jill Warren cracks open her freezer for a midnight snack, she is greeted by her own smiling face staring back at her carved out of a 90 pound block of butter.
This dairy-lover’s memento was once on display at the Minnesota State Fair where Jill, CSB junior, received second place in the Princess Kay of the Milky Way pageant in 2007.
Held since 1954, the Midwest Dairy Association hosts the coronation to represent women who are strong in the farming industry. They must be daughters of farm owners or work on a farm themselves. The contestants are chosen for their overall communication skills, personality, general knowledge of farm life and commitment to the industry.
Farm Life
The wakeup call is 5 a.m. on weekends for the Warren household in Litchfield, Minn. Jill would help milk 140 cows in 2.5 hours, twice a day and after school during the week. Jill’s mother, Carol Warren, said that her daughter had a variety of chores being the eldest of three children on the farm.
From picking rocks out of the crop fields, bailing hay and straw and bottle-feeding the newborn calves, she had a hectic schedule.
“Jill is a very hard worker,” Carol said. “She knows what needs to be done and just does it.”
Jill’s father, John Warren, took over the family farm with his brother about four years ago.
“I appreciate what the farm gave me,” Jill said. “It helped me build character.”
Aside from the daily chores, Jill’s favorite part about living on a farm is the numerous county, state and national competitions they “show” their cows in. “Lauren” is her favorite black and white companion.
Pageant days
With her hard working life-style, Jill decided to run for Princess Kay of the Milky Way last summer.
First, women need to run for a county dairy princess within the county where their family owns or operates a dairy farm. After making it past that round, Jill ran against 85 other women from Minnesota in the state competition. From there, the top 12 were chosen.
Jill was one of them.
Contestants went through interviews and gave speeches about their knowledge in the dairy industry.
“When Jill was selected as one of the 12 finalists, we were so excited,” Carol said.
On the eve of the State Fair’s opening day, a crown was placed on top of Jill’s head as a second place winner.
“It was really exciting to be chosen as second,” Warren said. “It was a huge honor to even be considered.”
Even though she was not the “Dairy Queen,” her family was very enthusiastic about her placing and is proud of her accomplishments.
“Her sense of responsibility, work ethic and down-to-earth
Buttery reward
As a prize for finishing in the top 12, each contestant is given a day to be represented at the State Fair where their head is carved out of a block of butter.
Dressed in snowpants and mittens, Warren sat for eight hours in a 38 degree freezer, rotating for the fair goers to observe. Little children snapped photos by the sculpture that was held in the Dairy Barn.
“People would look at me like I was crazy when I came out for breaks from the freezer wearing my snow pants in the summer heat,” said Jill.
Linda Christensen has been carving the butter heads for over 30 years and currently resides in California.
Jill said the best part of the competition was getting to know the other contestants.
“It was so easy to relate to each other butter head.”
Looking back
Attending the State Fair was not the same this year, Jill said, as a new round of women were chosen.
“I really miss it,” Jill said. “It was hard to watch the other butter heads in the freezer.”
As for the future, Warren would like to stay involved with the dairy industry whether it be working with public relations promoting dairy farming or something with communications.
“[My life] would not be the same without it,” Jill said.
personality got her to this point,” Carol said. “She always gave 110 percent in everything she did.”
The finalists attended agricultural seminars, made school visits and spoke at various banquets throughout their year-long duty.
Farm Life
The wakeup call is 5 a.m. on weekends for the Warren household in Litchfield, Minn. Jill would help milk 140 cows in 2.5 hours, twice a day and after school during the week. Jill’s mother, Carol Warren, said that her daughter had a variety of chores being the eldest of three children on the farm.
From picking rocks out of the crop fields, bailing hay and straw and bottle-feeding the newborn calves, she had a hectic schedule.
“Jill is a very hard worker,” Carol said. “She knows what needs to be done and just does it.”
Jill’s father, John Warren, took over the family farm with his brother about four years ago.
“I appreciate what the farm gave me,” Jill said. “It helped me build character.”
Aside from the daily chores, Jill’s favorite part about living on a farm is the numerous county, state and national competitions they “show” their cows in. “Lauren” is her favorite black and white companion.
Pageant days
With her hard working life-style, Jill decided to run for Princess Kay of the Milky Way last summer.
First, women need to run for a county dairy princess within the county where their family owns or operates a dairy farm. After making it past that round, Jill ran against 85 other women from Minnesota in the state competition. From there, the top 12 were chosen.
Jill was one of them.
Contestants went through interviews and gave speeches about their knowledge in the dairy industry.
“When Jill was selected as one of the 12 finalists, we were so excited,” Carol said.
On the eve of the State Fair’s opening day, a crown was placed on top of Jill’s head as a second place winner.
“It was really exciting to be chosen as second,” Warren said. “It was a huge honor to even be considered.”
Even though she was not the “Dairy Queen,” her family was very enthusiastic about her placing and is proud of her accomplishments.
“Her sense of responsibility, work ethic and down-to-earth
Buttery reward
As a prize for finishing in the top 12, each contestant is given a day to be represented at the State Fair where their head is carved out of a block of butter.
Dressed in snowpants and mittens, Warren sat for eight hours in a 38 degree freezer, rotating for the fair goers to observe. Little children snapped photos by the sculpture that was held in the Dairy Barn.
“People would look at me like I was crazy when I came out for breaks from the freezer wearing my snow pants in the summer heat,” said Jill.
Linda Christensen has been carving the butter heads for over 30 years and currently resides in California.
Jill said the best part of the competition was getting to know the other contestants.
“It was so easy to relate to each other butter head.”
Looking back
Attending the State Fair was not the same this year, Jill said, as a new round of women were chosen.
“I really miss it,” Jill said. “It was hard to watch the other butter heads in the freezer.”
As for the future, Warren would like to stay involved with the dairy industry whether it be working with public relations promoting dairy farming or something with communications.
“[My life] would not be the same without it,” Jill said.
personality got her to this point,” Carol said. “She always gave 110 percent in everything she did.”
The finalists attended agricultural seminars, made school visits and spoke at various banquets throughout their year-long duty.
Farm Life
The wakeup call is 5 a.m. on weekends for the Warren household in Litchfield, Minn. Jill would help milk 140 cows in 2.5 hours, twice a day and after school during the week. Jill’s mother, Carol Warren, said that her daughter had a variety of chores being the eldest of three children on the farm.
From picking rocks out of the crop fields, bailing hay and straw and bottle-feeding the newborn calves, she had a hectic schedule.
“Jill is a very hard worker,” Carol said. “She knows what needs to be done and just does it.”
Jill’s father, John Warren, took over the family farm with his brother about four years ago.
“I appreciate what the farm gave me,” Jill said. “It helped me build character.”
Aside from the daily chores, Jill’s favorite part about living on a farm is the numerous county, state and national competitions they “show” their cows in. “Lauren” is her favorite black and white companion.
Pageant days
With her hard working life-style, Jill decided to run for Princess Kay of the Milky Way last summer.
First, women need to run for a county dairy princess within the county where their family owns or operates a dairy farm. After making it past that round, Jill ran against 85 other women from Minnesota in the state competition. From there, the top 12 were chosen.
Jill was one of them.
Contestants went through interviews and gave speeches about their knowledge in the dairy industry.
“When Jill was selected as one of the 12 finalists, we were so excited,” Carol said.
On the eve of the State Fair’s opening day, a crown was placed on top of Jill’s head as a second place winner.
“It was really exciting to be chosen as second,” Warren said. “It was a huge honor to even be considered.”
Even though she was not the “Dairy Queen,” her family was very enthusiastic about her placing and is proud of her accomplishments.
“Her sense of responsibility, work ethic and down-to-earth
Buttery reward
As a prize for finishing in the top 12, each contestant is given a day to be represented at the State Fair where their head is carved out of a block of butter.
Dressed in snowpants and mittens, Warren sat for eight hours in a 38 degree freezer, rotating for the fair goers to observe. Little children snapped photos by the sculpture that was held in the Dairy Barn.
“People would look at me like I was crazy when I came out for breaks from the freezer wearing my snow pants in the summer heat,” said Jill.
Linda Christensen has been carving the butter heads for over 30 years and currently resides in California.
Jill said the best part of the competition was getting to know the other contestants.
“It was so easy to relate to each other butter head.”
Looking back
Attending the State Fair was not the same this year, Jill said, as a new round of women were chosen.
“I really miss it,” Jill said. “It was hard to watch the other butter heads in the freezer.”
As for the future, Warren would like to stay involved with the dairy industry whether it be working with public relations promoting dairy farming or something with communications.
“[My life] would not be the same without it,” Jill said.
personality got her to this point,” Carol said. “She always gave 110 percent in everything she did.”
The finalists attended agricultural seminars, made school visits and spoke at various banquets throughout their year-long duty.
