A 20-year-old college student from Wright County was crowned the 72nd Princess Kay of the Milky Way on Wednesday, the night before the Minnesota State Fair began. The winner, Malorie Thorson, studies dairy production at South Dakota State University.
Thorson said she’s looking forward to connecting with people during the 12 days of the State Fair and beyond.
“I'm really excited to meet everyone I can talk to… I'm a chatterbox for sure,” she said. “Talking with my mom every single morning during milking has made me an outgoing person, so I'm really excited to channel that energy into every single interaction.”
Thorson was one of 10 young women from across Minnesota who competed for the Princess Kay title — to serve as a goodwill ambassador for the state’s nearly 1,800 dairy farmers and organized each year by Midwest Dairy.
The runners-up were Alexis Hoefs of Le Sueur County and April Klaphake of Stearns County. Lauren Steffl, of Brown County, was named Miss Congeniality.
Outgoing Princess Kay Rachel Visser of McLeod County joked a bit just before the crowning moment. Visser held the crown over the all three finalists’ heads until she finally placed the tiara on Thorson.
“I feel like I'm in a fever dream,” Thorson said in her first remarks as Princess Kay. “I don't feel like it's real, but I’ll maybe feel like it's real when I wake up tomorrow morning so I can go into the butter booth.”
Thorson is expected to fulfill her first official duty as Princess Kay Thursday by sitting in a rotating cooler, set at 40 degrees, inside the Dairy Building. There, she will have her likeness sculpted from a 90-pound block of Grade AA butter, made especially for the occasion by the Associated Milk Producers Inc. in New Ulm.
Butter sculptor Gerry Kulzer will carve Princess Kay over the State Fair’s first two days. Kulzer will then sculpt a finalist each day until the end of the fair.
Thorson said she already knows what her first dairy treat will be as Princess Kay.
“I would love a good chocolate milk because it’s so rehydrating and I have not [drunk] enough water today.”
Thorson’s duties as Princess Kay include talking with fairgoers, visiting classrooms throughout the year and meeting people at community events.
According to the organization, princesses are selected based on their communication skills, personality, general knowledge of the dairy community and its products, and their commitment to the promotion of dairy.
