On Saturday, at the fifty-first annual Dairy Princess Contest, in Santa Rosa, Sonoma Valley High School Senior Taylor Serres, age 17, became this year’s Dairy Princess. She has been in 4-H since she was nine years old and loves working with animals, raising her own calf each year as part of the Replacement Heifer Program.
Alina Amaral of Sonoma was named the Second Alternate, after First Alternate Jeanette McClure of Inverness, and Katie Leveroni of Sonoma was also a contestant. Kelsey Cheda of Petaluma was the outgoing Dairy Princess.
Serres lives on a 200-acre vineyard that was once a dairy farm. In her new role as a spokesperson for the dairy industry, she will attend fairs and community events and visit classrooms to inform the public about the dairy industry. She hopes the dairy business will be part of her future. “I have become more familiar with the dairy industry as I’ve gotten older, and I’ve realized what I want to do is become a wine maker and cheese maker.”
Competition this year was stiff, according to Holly Camozzi, public relations coordinator for the Dairy Princess Committee. “The judges were with the [seven] girls all day, quizzing them and getting to know them. In the actual contest, they came out in business suits to be interviewed by the master of Ceremonies who asked a number of questions pertinent to the industry. They also had one question which they’d drawn earlier, from a hat, and had time to study and think about. When this portion of the event was accomplished, they left the stage, and returned in formal evening gowns for the rest of the ceremony and then the dance.”
This annual event, co-sponsored by the North Bay Dairy Women and the California Milk Advisory Board, was held at the Petaluma Veterans Building in front of a standing room only crowd.
From left to right: Jeanette McClure (Inverness), Angelina Bordessa (Cotati), Keelyn Hanlon (Petaluma), Katie Leveroni (Sonoma), Taylor Serres (Sonoma), Kelsey Cheda (Petaluma), Regina Fessler (Petaluma), Alina Amaral (Sonoma)
