Taylor Serres was named the 2008 Dairy Princess. She is accompanied here with her cow, Liberty, and her dog, Tinker Bell. Photo by Ryan lely/Sonoma Valley Sun
Agriculture is the heart of Sonoma,” said Taylor Serres, who was crowned the fifty-first Dairy Princess at the Dairy Princess Contest and Ball on Saturday, and immediately began her new role as spokesperson for the local dairy industry. “The agriculture industry is small and we’re trying to build it,” she said, reflecting on the ceremony while bringing Liberty, the heifer she raised herself, in from the field. “We want people to become more aware of where their dairy products come from…and make it fun for everybody.”
Serres, a senior at Sonoma Valley High School, member of 4-H, and Future Farmers of America, lives on her family’s 200-acre Sonoma ranch that was dairy-land when her father was a boy and now has become a vineyard. On the ranch, in addition to her studies and her activities in agricultural education, she practices farming by participating in the Replacement Heifer Program – in which she raises her own Holstein calf every year, from newborn to a fully-grown and impregnated heifer, which she then shows and sells at the Petaluma Fair. “It’s sad to see them go,” she said, patting the big animal, “but that’s part of ranching.” For Serres, agricultures is a whole way of life, from calf-raising to public speaking, and ultimately, if she continues on her present course, becoming a professional cheese-maker and wine-maker. The richness of the agricultural life, and her care for the animals, is something that she takes an obvious pleasure in sharing.
This annual Dairy Princess 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. Holly Camozzi, public relations coordinator for the Dairy Princess Committee, said the competition this year was stiff. “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.” The Princess was crowned by outgoing Dairy Princess Kelsey Cheda, of Petaluma. Among the contestants were Jeanette McClure of Inverness, who was named First Alternate, and Alina Amaral of Sonoma, who was named the Second Alternate. Katie Leveroni of Sonoma was also a contestant.
Serres, pondering why she’d wanted to be Dairy Princess said, “I felt I could bring a positive attitude and a new outlook on the agriculture industry. I want to build on what my father and all the other people have made for us. I want to make it easier for the public to become involved.” How might that be accomplished? Easy! “Like the Sonoma County Fair and the Marin Fair, I want it to become bigger and help it strive and flourish for people to understand. Like, we’re having a milking presentation today, please come and watch! Free ice cream today! Just make it fun for people so they understand, Wow! And they appreciate what the animals and the farmers are like.”
From her years of personal involvement she sees the hard side of the industry as well, and that also motivates her to want to help people understand. “Milk prices have been dropping. Gas prices are increasing. Prices of grain are increasing, because of Ethanol. One little thing effects everybody in Sonoma, and the dairymen have to run the milk machines and their tractors, and with milk prices going down, they don’t have as much buck for their bang. I see now why these dairy men should be appreciated with greater love.” Throughout the next year, 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.”
