Princess Kay of the Milky Way Crowned

Rachel Visser a 19-year-old college student from Hutchinson, representing McLeod County, was crowned the 71st Princess Kay of the Milky Way Wednesday evening at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

Visser will serve as the official goodwill ambassador for the nearly 1,800 Minnesota dairy farm families. She is the daughter of Barry and Shannon Visser and attends the University of Minnesota.

Nine county dairy princesses from throughout Minnesota competed for the Princess Kay of the Milky Way title.

Katie Ketchum of Altura, representing Winona County, and Grace Woitalla of Avon, representing Stearns County, were selected as runners-up.

Visser, Ketchum and Woitalla were also named scholarship winners. Mackenzie Moline of Saint Peter, representing Nicollet County, was named Miss Congeniality.

Throughout her year-long reign as Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Visser will make public appearances to help connect consumers to Minnesota’s dairy farm families. She will work to bring dairy to life through conversations, classroom visits and various speaking engagements about the nutritional benefits of dairy and dairy farmers’ continual commitment to environmental sustainability.

Visser’s first official duty as Princess Kay will be to sit in a rotating cooler in the Dairy Building (located at the corner of Judson Avenue and Underwood Street) to have her likeness sculpted in a 90-pound block of butter the first two days of the Minnesota State Fair – Thursday, Aug. 22, and Friday, Aug. 23.

Minnesota artist and butter sculptor Gerry Kulzer will be carving Princess Kay and the finalists.

Other finalists are scheduled to have their likenesses sculpted as follows:

Saturday, Aug. 24: Miranda Schroeder, Caledonia, representing Houston County
Sunday, Aug. 25: Grace Woitalla, Avon, representing Stearns County
Monday, Aug. 26: McKenna Wright, Hutchinson, representing McLeod County
Wednesday, Aug. 28: Selena Corona, Saint Joseph, representing Stearns County
Thursday, Aug. 29: Katie Ketchum, Altura, representing Winona County
Friday, Aug. 30: Katelyn Welgraven, Ruthton, representing Pipestone County
Saturday, Aug. 31: Mackenzie Moline, Saint Peter, representing Nicollet County
Sunday, Sept. 1: Afton Nelson, Owatonna, representing Steele County