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| Ann Miron ends reign as Princess Kay of the Milky Way |
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| Wednesday, 27 August 2008 | |
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Devon Holstad Summer Reporter Like all other little girls, Ann Miron dreamed of being a princess. But unlike all other little girls, Miron’s dream came true...although not in the form of a Disney fairytale. For the 20-year-old Hugo resident, the dream was one that involved cows and butter, not gold and extravagant palaces. “Our parents didn’t take us to the fair too often when we were younger. But when we did get to go and you see those girls with their heads carved into a 90-pound block of butter, I think that’s something any dairy girl would aspire to be,” Miron said. The 12 girls she speaks of are the 12 finalists of the annual Minnesota Dairy Princess contest, with the winner earning the title of Princess Kay of the Milky Way. The competition, put on by the Midwest Dairy Association, is a rigorous one. Approximately 80 girls from across the state, all of whom must first be named county dairy princess, compete to be crowned Princess Kay, going through numerous interviews, mock press conferences, and speeches. As Miron noted, one of the perks of making it to the finals is that you get your likeness carved in a huge slab of butter. Along with the carving, Princess Kay serves a full year as a representative of the Dairy Industry. Miron’s reign came to a close on Wednesday, Aug. 20, when she crowned Kristy Mussman, 20, of Claremont her successor in a ceremony the night before the start of the State Fair. She will represent Steele County as the 55th Princess Kay of the Milky Way A busy year As her year as Princess Kay came to a close, Miron looks back at what can only be described as a hectic year. Not only was she serving as Princess Kay, but she had to balance the already busy schedule of a college sophomore at the University of Minnesota, which included 19 credit hours during the fall semester, along with life back home at the farm. On top of that Miron is a member of Beta of Clovia, the agricultural sorority on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus. Even with the crammed schedule, however, the importance of the Princess Kay role was not lost. “I think I understood to a degree the importance of promotion [when first running to be Princess Kay] because growing up on a farm here so close to the Cities every day life is a promotion activity. “Most of the friends we see at school or the people we see on the street don’t live on a farm and don’t understand the lifestyle,” Miron explained, “but as you get older you learn some things, and my appreciation for [dairy promotion] definitely has increased.” Her life Farming, and the dairy industry in particular, has always been a part of Miron’s life. So it’s only natural that she’s serving as the industry’s most visible representative. Starting at four years old, Miron was constantly outside as I kid, and it’s no surprise that she’s following the agricultural roots of the Miron family. “I would go out help [my grandma with the flowers] at four years old and scratch at the dirt. I started milking cows when I was probably eight or nine. I drove my first tractor when I was 13.” Even with growing up on the same dairy farm where her dad, Fran Miron, was born and raised and being a part of a family with deep ties to the dairy industry, Miron says she was not forced into being so vocal about the agricultural cause. As children, she said, Miron and her four brothers and sister would always be outside with their mom and dad doing whatever they could to help. Miron admits though, that “as you get more of a teenager it was a little bit more of a chore” to work on the farm. But with the entire family taking turns doing all the necessary jobs it never got to be too much to handle, and now Miron looks forward to the summer and weekends when she gets to come home and work. “I enjoy doing that,” she said. “I think all of us as kids enjoyed this lifestyle, so who knows what kind of homes and acreage and that kind of thing we’ll have. And if I don’t have anything like that I’m sure I’ll come here and do what I can to help.” Family ties While Miron explains that “you become a little bit of a family” with everyone involved in the Princess Kay competition, her real family may soon be following in her footsteps. Miron’s younger sister, Katie, who is currently a Washington County Dairy Princess along with Erin and Mariah Daninger, will be eligible for the Princess Kay competition next year. Interestingly enough, it was Katie who first got Ann interested in being a dairy princess. “The [county dairy princess] program started when I was about 15. Katie did it the first year and had so much fun doing it that I decided to do it the next year,” she said. From that point on it was only a matter of time before she competed for the Princess Kay crown, and she made history, becoming the first Princess Kay winner to come from Washington County. As Miron prepared to hand the Princess Kay title over, she said she would do so with no regrets. “It’s a bittersweet ending,” she said. “I’m sad to give it up, but then there’s another girl that deserves the experience so I’m happy to pass it on to her.” She continued, saying, “A year is a good time to be Princess Kay. It gives you time for it to be new, different and exciting...but you get more seasoned in your abilities. In the beginning you have more enthusiasm and in the end you have more knowledge so it balances out.” With the changing of the guard, Miron’s official duties as Princess Kay will be over, but she will still be around to help out the new Princess with whatever help and advice they might need. The amount of help she gives, however, “is up to whoever the new Princess Kay is. It’s up to them how much insight they seek, they need to make it their own year.” A great year Miron has certainly enjoyed her year, and her work representing the dairy industry will not end just because her title does. “Being an agricultural education major and being in the industry will always give me opportunities to share the dairy message,” she said. The entire Miron family has been enjoying the ride of Ann’s Princess Kay tenure, and Ann says that “my dad’s still glowing with pride!” She also adds that it will be nice for the whole family to be able to rest a little bit once it’s over. “It adds another thing to the to-do list, and it keeps them just as busy as it keeps me,” she said, explaining how she would be accompanied at almost all her Princess Kay events by at least one of her parents. “They might be getting a little tired. It’s been a busy year...but it’s been fun.” Miron had a lot to handle over the past year, and she described how she had to deliberately plan her entire schedule in order to just not be overwhelmed. Even so, she would not trade her experience for anything. She has thrived in her dual role as an educator and student, helping to teach others about the dairy industry while learning new things along the way. After all the classroom visits, public speeches, and monthly articles for the Dairy Star magazine, it’s been a year that Miron won’t forget, and she’s glad she had the opportunity to share the dairy message. “As you learn more and more about the dairy industry and its challenges, the strong points and all those things, it’s just a lot of fun to talk to people and share with them our lifestyle, because there’s fewer and fewer people that live on a farm. It’s a message that we do need to share, because if we don’t tell our story, who is going to?” Social Bookmarking ...       |
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