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UW-River Falls home to Princess Kay and Wisconsin Fairest of the Fairs


April 21, 2022 -- University of Wisconsin-River Falls student Anna Euerle loves to tell the story of sitting for more than eight hours in a 40-degree cooler as her likeness was carved into 90 pounds of salted butter after she was crowned the 68th Princess Kay of the Milky Way at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds last August.

Euerle, of Litchfield, Minn., is a senior majoring in food, science and technology. She serves as Princess Kay of the Milky Way, the official goodwill ambassador for nearly 2,200 Minnesota dairy farm families.

Wearing a winter coat, Euerle’s likeness was carved into the butter at the Butter Sculpture Booth in the Minnesota State Fairgrounds Dairy Building by Linda Christensen. It was Christensen’s 50th and final year carving the Princess Kay of the Milky Way winner at the Minnesota State Fair.

“I got to take the sculpture home after the fair,” Euerle said. “It is in a freezer by itself at my grandma’s house. I was going to have a big corn feed and use the butter for that. We are waiting though. It’s a fun keepsake but I would love to use it.”

Fellow UWRF student Jackie Rosenbush, of Spooner, a junior agricultural education major, is Wisconsin Fairest of the Fairs. Rosenbush was named in January to serve the year-long term. 

Each year, the Wisconsin Fairest of the Fairs travels throughout the state promoting the educational, agricultural, social, cultural and commercial opportunities available at Wisconsin’s fairs.

“What drew me was I have the opportunity to represent all 75 county, local and state fairs in the state of Wisconsin,” Rosenbush said. “I will try my best to get to every one.”

“My mission is to educate others about agriculture and this position gives me that opportunity,” Rosenbush said.

Rosenbush is quick to point out, however, that fairs are really for everyone young and old, regardless of their background.

“If your niche is cake baking, there is a place for you at every county fair,” she noted. “They are about 4-H and other youth groups as well as adults. There is a place for everyone at the county fairs.”

Rosenbush will serve as the official hostess of the Wisconsin State Fair from Aug. 4-14 in West Allis.

Rosenbush, who was involved with FFA starting in 2015 and included serving on the Wisconsin FFA State Officer team from 2020-21, farming has been a part of her life.

She and her sister, Kate, co-own a 100-head sheep farm in northern Wisconsin that Rosenbush cares for on weekends even as a member of the UW-River Falls track team.

“Weekends are not weekends, they are for work,” she noted. “It’s lambing time, so we have been very busy. I love it. It has taught me discipline and dedication.”

The farm, which started in 2006, is named RN’R Romneys and Columbias.

“We work a lot with sheep at the fairs,” Rosenbush said. “We really are interested in wool production.”

Rosenbush chose UW-River Falls for its agricultural business program.

“This campus is beautiful,” she said, while being interviewed during campus Ag Day on April 19 hosted by the Collegiate Farm Bureau. “I love every day here. UW-River Falls definitely felt like home.”

Wisconsin Fairest of the Fairs had 33 contestants this year for the title and is chosen by a panel of three judges representing the fair, marketing and hospitality industries. Rosenbush was crowned at the Wisconsin Association of Fairs Convention in Wisconsin Dells.

Euerle, who has her associate degree in agriculture business from Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minn., started her first semester at UWRF this spring. When she first visited campus in the fall, she knew it was a good fit.

“I loved it,” Euerle said. “I don’t feel like a number here. I wanted a good hands-on experience. I’m really blessed I chose it.”

Being Princess Kay has allowed Euerle to talk to consumers and have genuine conversations about dairy farms and producers.

“It’s more than the dairy farmers,” she added. “It’s the nutritionists, the veterinarians and everybody I call the support staff of dairy farmers. The Midwest Dairy has also provided me with a fabulous foundation to work with the dairy community. I get to share with others about the community, including other women interested in it.”

Euerle has had the opportunity to meet younger students in K-12 schools.

“I go into the classroom and take them on a virtual reality 360-degree visit to a robotic carousel dairy,” she noted. “The students just love it. It has just been a blast.”

During Ag Day, Julia Nunes, of Chippewa Falls, the reigning Alice in Dairyland, also visited campus. Nunes is the first Alice to serve two consecutive terms in the program’s history. She started serving as the 73rd Alice in July 2020 and her term as the 74th Alice will end in July.

Alice in Dairyland is a full-time public relations and communications professional for the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. 

“My favorite part of the job is meeting farmers and letting them shine,” Nunes said, noting she promotes Wisconsin’s diverse $104.8 billion agriculture industry.

Nunes, who used to work in River Falls, has ties to the university as well. Her current significant other, Kendall Keegan, is a 2019 alum and her sister, Katrina, is also an alum.

 

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