50th Dairy Princess Festival planned
Published: January 27, 2012
Font size: [A] [A] [A]
Event organizers, left to right, front row, Hope Thompson, Jill Cole, and Darlene VanBlarcom, and left to right, back row, Bill Brasington, Amberleigh Packard, Bonnie Borek, Sara Jennings and Erin Cole.
TROY – The Bradford County Dairy Princess program is celebrating a special milestone this year with the crowning of the 50th Dairy Princess and some big plans are under way.
A Bradford County 50th Dairy Princess Festival in honor of the half-century anniversary will be held on Saturday, June 2 at Alparon Park in Troy, said Bonnie Borek, co-chairman of the festival. The public is invited to the free event.
“It’s a great program to promote milk and the awareness of the dairy farmers and their plight over the years,” she said. “It’s a wonderful program for a girl to get involved with and find out how important milk and agriculture are to the backbone of Bradford County.”
She said the goal is to have a “huge festival to promote the dairy industry and to spotlight the past Dairy Princesses,” some of whom who will attend.
The first Bradford County Dairy Princess and the Pennsylvania State First Alternate, Viola McQueen Metzger, of Canton, who was crowned in 1963, will attend the festival, Borek said.
Organizers pointed out, parenthetically, that in 1960, the late Marilyn Ballard Packard, who was from the Mt. Pisgah area, was the Area 13 Miss Milkmaid. This area included Bradford County.
The festival will kick off with a parade at 11 a.m. The parade line-up will be at 10 a.m. at Gate 3 at Alparon Park and will proceed around the track at the park.
At the parade, people can bring lawn chairs and sit around the track or sit in grandstands to watch the procession.
Anybody who wants to enter something in the parade is welcome to participate, Borek said.
For more information, call Borek at (570) 297-8971.
The festival will also feature vendors and various activities including a milking contest, milk chugging, hay bale throwing, and a kids’ pedal tractor pull.
There will be a cowpie bingo with a prize of $599. Tickets will cost $10 a piece. They will be sold at various locations around the county beginning Feb. 1.
The crowning of the 50th Bradford County Dairy Princess will take place in the evening on June 2 at Troy High School Memorial Auditorium.
On June 1, a kickoff meet and greet will be held for the Dairy Princess candidates and former royalty at the Bradford County Farm Museum in Troy. An RSVP system is being developed for tickets.
Currently, a call is being put out for Bradford County Dairy Princess candidates, who must be at least 16 years old. The age range for the candidates is 16-24 years old and they must have a connection to the dairy industry. Those interested can call Erin Cole at (570) 268-2707 or email bradfordcountydairyprincess@gmail.com for more information. Anyone younger than 16 years old interested in the program can contact Cole at the aforementioned phone number or email address about being a Dairy Maid or Dairy Miss.
Also, the organizers of the festival are looking for past Dairy Princesses or alternates to attend the festival. They can contact Sara Jennings at (570) 529-0396 or the aforementioned email address.
